Those that Remain
by emerson123
Summary: An AU Lost crossover with The Walking Dead and a dash of World War Z. The world has been upended by a pandemic of global proportions. How will they persevere while retaining their humanity? Mostly about Jack and Kate, but there will be plenty of others. And yes, there will be zombies, but it's mostly a love story. Rated T for now, will probably up the rating to M later.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello. So this is my first time publishing anything. I am simultaneously working on another Jack and Kate AU story which I hope to get uploaded as well. This story is sort of an AU mash up of Lost, The Walking Dead and a little bit of World War Z. It will be mostly a love story, with the central characters being Jack and Kate. So, if you are looking for fic that is very heavy on zombie sci-fi action, this may not be the story for you. There will be a zombie pandemic, but my focus will be on the characters. I am new to writing, but have been so inspired by some of the great Lost stories I have stumbled across (check out my favorite Authors list, they are so great). In particular, I have to give a HUGE shout out to Erica (ForeverErica is her pen name), who essentially encouraged me to start writing. And I can't thank her enough for providing so much creative support.**

She stared out from the floor to ceiling windows of their modern and too expensive high-rise apartment. She could see the Washington monument in the near distance to her left. She had to admit the apartment had a lovely view, despite her protestations to moving here. She had pleaded with her husband to buy a federal style row house in Georgetown, but to no avail. He always seemed to make the decisions. With detachment and a deep sigh, her sullen eyes skimmed across the expanse of the bedroom they shared.

He walked in and looked at her disapprovingly, "Katherine, is that what you are wearing to the cocktail reception?" Her mind still slightly clouded from her daydreaming, Kate didn't particularly care about his opinion.

She looked down at her comfortable black trousers, ivory blouse and ballet flats. It was one of her favorite outfits, she had received many compliments on this blouse with its high ruffled collar embellished with tiny jewels trim.

"That _was _my intention. I don't see the problem with what I'm wearing."

She watched him walk over to her closet and then re-surface holding a snug-fitting little black dress that she personally felt was a little too low-cut for her liking. It still had the tags dangling from it, the garment was something he had bought for her.

Casually, he gestured for her to take it. "Why don't you wear this? It suits you more, you know I don't care for pants. I like you to wear skirts and dresses. The Harrises will be there tonight you know. I need you to charm the Senator, I am close to being able to finalize a deal with him."

Kate felt the nausea rise up her throat, she detested Senator George Harris and the way he leered at her every lone opportunity he could find. And she hated more that her husband was aware of it and wanted to exploit it to his advantage.

She sighed, "Brian, how about I sit this one out tonight and you go alone. I have an early flight to Boston tomorrow and I don't want to be too tired-"

"What do you mean, you have a flight?"

Irked, but not surprised that he would forget something that did not involve him, she said, "I'm going to the yoga retreat at the spa in the Berkshires. Remember? I'll be there for 8 days. We already discussed this -"

Sounding more like a lecture, he reminded her "Katherine, you know how busy my travel schedule is, how do you expect to get pregnant when you are away when I am home. You need to get pregnant soon. It is expected that I have children."

Looking almost pathetically defiant, she quickly told him, "I won't be ovulating next week anyway, so it doesn't matter." Their schedules had been such that she managed to avoid him for the past few months. She had been in Chicago visiting her family for over a month and when she returned he was pulled away for a series of business trips and today they were in D.C. for a while before they would return to their home base in Atlanta.

When he used that harsh, implacable tone of voice, Kate knew that he would want to talk about this further. But she wanted to avoid the conversation at all costs, so she deftly switched the topic.

Slightly weary, she exhaled, "What shoes would you like me wear with that dress?"

She walked towards him, took the dress from his hands and headed to her changing room. Kate felt his presence in the entryway as she stood wearing only her expensive delicate black lace bra and panties. She stiffened under his watchful gaze. "What ..?"

She _was_ enticing and there was no doubt why she had to be his wife. He quickly looked at his watch and wondered whether there would be time to take her to bed before they had to leave. There was, but he decided against it, she would be gone starting tomorrow and that would allow him to seek out the company of the women he regularly entertained behind her back. He preferred their attention anyway, their ability to meet his needs in a way that Katherine was just too shy and uptight to satisfy.

"Nothing, I was just admiring you, how absolutely exquisite and stunning you are Katherine. Isn't it natural for a man to look at his wife." There was a familiar note in Brian's voice that sent a nervous shiver up her spine.

She had noticed the look in his eyes and with a shred of uneasiness, she hastily stepped into the dress. Kate swallowed hard, she wasn't in the mood for _that_. Then again she never seemed to be in _that _mood anymore.

With a pleased grin, he waved her over, "Come here, I will zip up the dress for you." She let out a quiet sigh of relief.

"Oh, and you are going to have to remove the bra. I can see the straps. I don't think the dress is meant to be worn with one," he coolly informed her before turning on his heel.

With a look of disapproval apparent on her face, Kate stared at her reflection in the full length mirror. Most people would say she looked stunning in the expensive black silk dress, but she felt uncomfortable and bare. Her naturally curly brown hair was blown straight with the ends curled such that they would lightly bounce as she moved.

She was in the bathroom putting the finishing touches on her make up when he rushed in. She saw the grave look on his face and knew something was very wrong, "Are you okay, Brian?"

"There is no time to explain, but you have two minutes to pack a bag before we go up to the roof where a helicopter will pick us up."

Eyes widened and mouth agape, she exclaimed "A helicopter? What are you talking about-"

"Katherine, NOW!" He stormed off to his dresser and grabbed whatever was in reach.

She ran to her closet and found the packed designer leather travel bag she had ready for her trip tomorrow. At the last second, she stuffed a few extra pairs of pants, a sweater and comfortable shoes into the bag.

She re-surfaced from the closet and saw him waiting for her. They walked to the door and she grabbed her sporty black leather jacket and threw it on. She headed to the direction of the elevator, but he told her to take the stairs. They quickly climbed the two floors and reached the roof. That is when they took in the sight. There were numerous helicopters flying overhead and she could hear countless sirens blaring from below. She looked to the horizon and saw there were plumes of smoke jutting across the city's landscape. With eyes looking desperate, she shouted, "Brian, what's happening out there? Are we under attack?"

Her hair then began to whip from a violent gust of air and they looked up above to see a military helicopter prepare to descend. They stepped back as they waited for the Navy Seahawk to touch ground and once it did the cabin door slid open and a helmeted soldier extended his arm and beckoned them to come, "Senator Blake? Hurry, come on aboard! C'mon!"

They sprinted in its direction and Kate could hear the clicking of her ridiculous strappy high-heeled sandals. As they approached, a strong arm extended out, grabbed her hand and helped her climb in. Sitting already in the cabin was a couple and their child who appeared to be 8 -9 years old. Kate nodded in their direction as she found an empty seat. Once they were in the air, Kate had a chance to take in the scene below her - cars were overturned, fires burning in all directions, swarms of people running everywhere.

To no one in particular, Kate shouted, "What is happening out there? Can someone tell me what the _hell_ is going on?"

The co-pilot donning aviator sunglasses, looked over his shoulder, "Ma'am, we're en route to USS Truman, it's ten miles off shore. You and the Senator will be debriefed once we get you there."

Kate continued to stare at the city below and wondered how it was even possible for it to spiral into a state of utter chaos so quickly. She reached into her purse looking for her cell phone. She needed to text her sister in Chicago and let her know that she was okay. She began to type, but she heard a sharp microphoned voice, this time it was the pilot that spoke.

"Ma'am, kindly disengage from using your mobile phone. Its signal can interfere with the GPS."

She rolled her eyes, slightly peeved, a bit embarrassed at being seemingly reprimanded and called out by the stern pilot for no real reason. She KNEW it was a myth that it would interfere with the navigation system.

She shouted over the loud noise of the roaring engine, "Sorry. I just wanted to contact my sister, before we're too far away from shore and let her know that…." She trailed off as she noticed that he didn't seem to be listening to or care about her weak apology.

Fifteen minutes later, they landed on the mid-sized navy carrier and Kate noticed that they were received by two officers, a female and male, each of their uniforms read CAPT H. Stanhope and CMDR G. Stanhope.

Captain Shephard quickly stepped off the aircraft and extended his arms to lift the child out. Kate saw him a draw a warm smile at the little girl as he placed her onto the deck.

The woman addressed the pilots, "Captain Shephard and Captain Grimes, we're relieving you from the next tour. You need to escort the Senator to the bridge. Vice Admiral Gault has requested to speak to him."

Kate watched them exchange some commands before turning their attention back to her and Brian. The taller man, the pilot, asked them to follow him. As they walked, he removed his helmet and placed the gloves in it.

Kate tried to keep up with his long strides, but was too preoccupied tugging down the hem of the black dress that seemed to keep riding up as she walked. She followed him and Brian through the weathertight door that led to a set of stairs and they began to climb the grated metal staircase. On the fifth step, Kate felt herself nearly tumble forward. Her heel had managed to get stuck in the grate. She bent down and tried to lift her left foot, but it was still jammed. The co-pilot was immediately behind her, patiently waiting for her to resolve her situation. She cursed Brian under her breath for selecting these impractical shoes and dress.

She heard a quiet voice that she now noticed was tinted with a subtle southern lilt, "Ma'am, can I assist you?"

She turned around and looked into his kind-looking blue eyes and saw that they did not bear any expression of irritation or mockery. "No. I think I have it." She aggressively twisted the heel and it still would not budge. She let out a small embarrassed laugh before she watched him place his gloved hand on her shapely ankle and gently raise it from the narrow gap.

Appreciatively, she nervously laughed, "Thank you. I was on my way to a party, if I had known the world was coming to an end, I would have worn different shoes…"

He smiled back at her as he took her travel bag from her grasp, "Ma'am, no explanation required."

They walked in silence to a small room where her husband and Captain Shephard were standing. Kate was about to talk to Brian when a door opened and a decorated senior looking officer walked in.

"Senator Blake? Vice Admiral Gault. Please join me in the control room. We have received some information that we need to discuss."

Kate began to follow, but Brian abruptly turned around, "Katherine, this is highly sensitive information. I am going to have to ask you wait here."

Her irritation was apparent as she found an empty chair and flung herself into it. She sat for a minute before feeling the beads of sweat form on her back and neck. It was warm in the tight quarters and the sweat built from their quick walk seemed to be catching up to her now. She looked up at the two men standing stiffly, staring straight ahead on each side of the door, they both wore zippered one piece flight suits, combat boots and some type of bullet proof vest. The taller one, Shephard, had short cropped brown hair and brown eyes. He was also handsome like the other one she observed. She removed her jacket and placed it neatly next to her.

She looked down at her feet and frowned as she bent over to begin the irksome task of unstrapping the complicated sandals. Once she was done, she flipped her head back and stared at the two soldiers by the door. Their eyes simultaneously averting their gaze to the wall above her head. For a second she wondered what they had just been looking at and then she looked down at herself and saw the gap of her low-cut dress. '_Of course', she thought. I hope those two creeps enjoyed their cheap thrill. _She threw them a disapproving and reproachful glare, clearly letting them know that she knew _exactly_ what they had been staring at. With a curiously defiant gesture of pride, Kate stood up and headed to the corner of the room to unceremoniously dump her $700.00 shoes into the trash bin.

She sat back in her seat, unzipped her bag and pulled out a pair of brightly colored running sneakers. As she was tying the second shoe, her husband walked in. She jumped from her chair and looked at him expectantly.

"Katherine, I have been requested to leave immediately. I need to meet with officials to address the current crisis."

Confused and growing increasingly impatient she asked, "Brian, what exactly is happening out there? Where are we going?"

He stiffly placed his hands on her shoulders as he uncompromisingly told her, "Katherine, I cannot take you with me. It is too dangerous, you need to stay here where it is safe-"

Kate cried, "You can't possibly be serious! You can't leave me _here_. Alone. You can't leave me with THEM!" She raised her arm and looked towards the two men at the door as she finished her outburst. Not even bothering to feign any tact, he flatly addressed her. "Katherine, I am leaving you in fine hands, you will be amongst our nation's bravest and finest men and women. When I get a better sense of what the predicament is, I will try to send for you."

Kate tried to say something then, but instead she simply stared at the man. The man that was supposed to be her husband. He dropped a brief peck on her forehead followed by a prompt good bye before he was escorted by some officer.

Numb with shock, she plunked back down into her seat and stared up at the two standing pilots whose faces remained expressionless as they looked ahead. As she dreaded, Kate could not help the tears that quickly welled up. But she fiercely blinked her eyes to clear them. The abuse she was heaping on Brian mentally gave her the strength to look at the soldiers and inquire, "Where do I go now?"

The vice admiral addressed the two captains, "Please escort Mrs. Blake to the lower deck." He then turned to face her, " You'll be assigned sleeping quarters and given a brief orientation."

During their walk across the deck, Rick made some idle talk with Kate, perhaps it was his own way to try to console her. He felt badly for this young woman and could only imagine what she was feeling. Kate looked over Rick's shoulder and saw Shephard carefully eyeing her. But she was unable to discern what he was actually thinking, his somber demeanor almost impenetrable. Bustle and confusion swarmed around them. The deck was virtual chaos, soldiers in a hurry running in every direction, helicopters flying overhead.

Rick turned to Jack as they left Kate to stand in line, "Damn, I've seen some heartless things in my time, but THAT was cold. Did you see the way he just up and left her?"

Jack shrugged neither agreeing or disagreeing. He had seen plenty of _her _type over the years. While they were at the Naval Academy, the two of them had escorted spoiled, vapid debutantes to cotillions and other sorts of balls. Yes. He had plenty of experience with the 'Katherine Blakes of this world and he just didn't find them to be a sympathetic bunch.

"Jack, how much older do you think the Senator is than her? Fifteen, twenty years?"

"No idea Rick. Never was good at that sort of thing - guessing ages," he answered matter-of-factly as he stared moodily ahead.

Rick laughed at his old friend. Jack's manner could be described as stiff at times, not even allowing himself to partake in light banter. But that didn't stop Rick from probing, "You know, she caught us peeking down her dress. Not too long ago I'd never been busted doing that. I guess after getting married, I'm now an amateur. What's your excuse?"

With a wry smile, Jack shook his head recalling her icy reaction, "She _definitely_ noticed and she was PISSED."

Rick was waiting for Jack to comment, but when he didn't he felt compelled to make the observation, "Did you happen to notice how outrageously hot she was? How does a man like him land a woman that looks like _her?"_

Jack raised his eyebrow at his friend, "Last time I checked, your wife was on board-" Rick quickly interrupted, "Yeah and I stand by the fact that my wife is the most gorgeous and intelligent woman on this planet. But that one? I'm just sayin' man, you gotta be blind not to notice _that_ girl."

Jack didn't respond, but he agreed. She is devastatingly beautiful in a way that he felt was perhaps just … _too_ much. And from his experience that could be problematic.

**Author's note: So for those that may not be familiar with the name, Brian Blake is the real name of the "Governor" in The Walking Dead. I've made him a U.S. senator for this story. **


	2. Chapter 2

Kate located her assigned quarters, the three tight berths on each side of the narrow room making it feel claustrophobic. She briefly wondered if she would get a 'bunkmate' to share the tiny space with and then pondered how long she would actually be sleeping here. She reached into her jacket pocket and tried her phone for what seemed like the hundredth time that day, of course, there was still nothing. She regretted, more than anything, following the pilot's directive to not use it when she had a chance. Her sister must be so worried, she thought. She hoped that Brian had the wherewithal to contact her family and let them know that she was safe, but a big part of her doubted that he would.

While she had been waiting on line to receive her room assignation and general ship information, she had overheard others whispering amidst the swarming disorder. First she heard that not only was Washington DC under a terrorist attack, but Philadelphia as well. The varying tales were wild sounding, she had no idea what to believe. Kate took a deep breath and looked at her watch, it was getting late and she was drained. She shut the door and looked around in her bag for her white short pajamas.

A sigh of relief escaped her lips, as she removed the fitted party dress, its constricting feeling having become rather uncomfortable by now. She was tempted to dump the impractical dress in the trash as well. But for whatever reason, she thought better of it. Who knows when she would come across an expensive garment like this again. She inspected the neckline and thought there might be a way to make some alterations so that it wouldn't drape so low in the front. She shuddered at the embarrassing memory of the free exhibition she put on for the pilots earlier today. Kate felt the uncomfortable heat rise to her cheeks. But quickly enough, her self-effacing side reminded herself that she didn't exactly possess a voluptuous or busty figure, so perhaps her small curves were a disappointment to them after all. And that last thought, somehow, pleased her and brought Kate some comforting satisfaction. She climbed into the bed and closed her eyes. She prayed sleep would overcome her and that the morning would bring some much needed answers.

* * *

Kate jolted awake, right before she heard the loud _whack_ of her head hitting the bunk above her.

"Son of a bitch!" She groaned.

It was just a nightmare she quickly realized, but her heart was still thumping wildly. Soon she recognized her surroundings and the initial sense of relief upon awakening from her nightmare was replaced with a reality that was arguably not much better. She reached over to her phone, it read 5:15 a.m. and it still was not registering any reception. Her heart sunk.

Even with an exhausted yawn, she knew there was no going back to sleep at this point. She roughly wiped the sleep from her eyes as she crawled from the berth. As she stood and stretched her stiff muscles, she recalled one of the crewmen briefly mentioning that there was a small gym on board that they were welcome to use. She quickly decided to take up the U.S. Government's offer. She found a pair of black running tights and a green spandex v-neck tank. She chuckled as she reviewed the contents of her bag, most of it contained exercise clothes and soft cotton jersey pieces to be used during meditation classes at the spa. There was positively nothing 'zen or spa-like' about her current living conditions, that was for sure. The narrow bunk's mattress was hard and she only had about a two foot clearance from the bunk above her - a feature she was now very familiar with as she rubbed the small bump that was forming on her head. It was like sleeping in a coffin.

She looked for the heavy pouch that she had tucked away in her bag. After she found it, she opened it to make sure all its contents were still there. Although after yesterday's events, she wasn't so sure she would still need this stuff. She looked around the cabin for a secure spot to place it in.

It took her more than a few minutes to locate the gym, the helicopter carrier was not one of the largest in the fleet, but it was still able to house a 2500 -3400 crew members. She had no idea how many people were presently on board, but didn't get the impression that they were remotely close to that number. Once she located the empty gym, she saw that there were about a dozen treadmills and other machines and some weights. She walked over to the treadmill at the far corner which faced the wall, figuring it would allow for the least possible interruption or distraction. She placed her headset on and began her typical exercise routine.

She barely noticed that some crew members had gradually come in to begin their workouts. She quickly glanced around and saw that she was joined by a few men and women and turned her attention back to her workout.

Jack had noticed her right away as he walked in. Her petite form appeared to be immersed in a run and from what he could tell, she was running a pretty aggressive pace.

When Kate saw that she had reached her eighth mile, she slowed down and then stopped the machine. She inspected the treadmill and wiped it down with a towel. Without looking at anyone, she walked out of the room oblivious to all the appreciative glances she had garnered from the males before she exited.

Once they saw Kate was out of hearing distance a young lieutenant shouted, "Hooah! I think I've died and gone to heaven. Did you see the tight little ass on her? Guess who's gonna be here working out bright and early again tomorrow."

A few others chimed in and a female lieutenant responded sarcastically, "Hey McIntyre! Show some manners, you have ladies in here!" Another woman added, "Good luck with that. She ain't ever giving you the time of day." A few testosterone laden 'high-fives' and 'fist bumps' were exchanged before they each resumed their respective workouts.

Jack didn't bother listening to all the typical ribbing and banter that followed amongst his fellow soldiers. He shook out the sting of the twitching muscles in his arms and shoulders before readying himself to leave.

He quickly looked at his watch, he needed to shower and report to the deck in 20 minutes.

* * *

Day 5

The days had slowly passed and Kate's routine didn't deviate. She rose early, her bad dreams never allowing her to sleep beyond 5:00 am. She ran, showered, ate breakfast and searched for something to occupy her time.

She had eventually stopped talking to the other civilians. She no longer wanted to listen to the all the conflicting stories that usually left her feeling hollow and sick to her stomach with fear. The tales she heard became increasingly more outlandish. One rumor was that there had been some type of nuclear device detonated in California. Another was that China had attacked the East Coast and even Europe was under attack. And one of the stranger accounts was from a man that insisted that it was the apocalypse and a breed of half humans were roaming the earth.

On the third day, Kate had tried to get information. Hoping that her connection to a US senator would grant her special privileges, she marched to the well guarded "operations center" of the ship. Kate knew all outside communications and intelligence was gathered and processed there. But her attempt was rendered futile. Although she demanded answers, she received none.

To pass time and to keep herself from going mad, Kate tried to watch some movies on the dvds that played in the recreation room. But she usually found that someone would interrupt and try to make small talk with her. So she stopped going, preferring to be alone to mourn the family and life she no longer believed she had.

That morning, she spotted the _friendlier _pilot and her mind raced to recall his name. She saw him walking in her direction along the narrow corridor below deck and she jogged towards him. Discreetly, she read his name on his uniform and called out, "Captain Grimes."

He stopped to give her a warm smile.

"You may remember me, I am the -"

"You are Mrs. Blake, the Senator's wife. Of course I remember. How can I help you?"

Kate smiled back, but it was tinged with a sort of desperation. She didn't know how to make this special request. But at this point she would be willing to do almost anything, so she cautiously asked, "Do you know if it is possible to make contact with the mainland? I am worried sick about my sister and 5 year old nephew. If there was just _some_ way that I could contact them to find out whether they're okay-"

Rick looked into her hopeful eyes and he felt awful. There was no way to help her and with genuine sincerity he told her, "I'm so sorry Mrs. Blake, but there has been no contact established with the mainland other than through military channels. The only contact that is being made is with other military locations." Although, he was tempted to tell her, but he didn't, that with each passing day even those contacts were dwindling in number. The truth being, that most of the soldiers were as much in the dark as she was.

He did acknowledge that there was a tremendous difference in their respective predicaments. She was all alone, while he had his wife with him. To say that he was grateful that the crew was able to have immediate families evacuated with them is an understatement.

Rick observed a sad, tired expression run across her face. He then wondered how she would cope with this situation on her own. For some reason she suddenly appeared so young to him now. She certainly didn't resemble the sophisticated looking socialite he picked up on the roof of a sleek hi-rise building.

He wanted to give her something though - some type of positive information. "The vice admiral is gonna make a formal announcement later today, maybe he'll have some positive news. Maybe there'll be a way to contact your family." He gave her a small hopeful smile.

"Thank you." She tried hard to hide her visible disappointment as she waved him a goodbye.

Afterwards, Kate decided to go to one of the galleys to get a cup of coffee. She sat down at a nearby empty seat in the mess hall. For a long while she just stared into her cup, the steaming aroma now gone and replaced with a cold dark liquid.

Jack entered the mess hall and saw her sitting by herself, which seemed typical based on the several occasions he came across her. He also couldn't help but notice that she had a manner of attracting attention, particularly from the opposite sex. The brief scenes he did witness invariably played out the same. A man would approach her, a brief exchange would ensue and then she would hastily get up and leave. Her demeanor always appeared polite, but it was clear that she had no interest in making acquaintances or small talk.

He had to admit that she wasn't exactly living up to the flirtatious society girl he expected when he first spotted her in that little black dress. Instead, she seemed quiet, focused and always in deep thought. And, most interestingly he observed, she appeared to have no sense of her effect on men. And even if she did, she certainly gave no indication.

This morning he decided to approach her and the thought that he may be summarily dismissed and sent on his way like the others did not escape him. But he decided to go and find out for himself anyway.

He reached her table wearing an earnest attempt at a smile. "Good morning Mrs. Blake. How are you faring?" When she looked up, he couldn't help detecting a small scowl twist her lips.

She recognized him as the handsome pilot that flew her to this hellhole. But most importantly she remembered how he ruined what seemed like the last chance she had at contact with her family. And that memory lit up her anger.

"You know, Captain Shephard? I'd be 'faring' MUCH better if _someone _hadn't been so anal five days ago and allowed me to text my sister when I had a chance." And with dripping sarcasm, she added "But no. _We_ couldn't risk interrupting the GPS, right?"

Jack's eyebrows knitted together with a small hint of surprise mixed with a frown, "Listen Mrs. Blake. I'm sorry that you haven't been able to contact your family -"

"Are you?" She huffed.

Somewhat defensively, Jack bit out, "Yeah, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that you didn't get in touch with your sister and that you're worried, okay?"

Riled up by his apologetic response, Kate jumped out of her seat, such that the coffee splashed over the cup's rim. "Just forget it!" Desperate, tired and angry, she turned to leave. But he moved faster and blocked her path, "No, don't walk away from me." Jack looked down and saw her expression of utter dismay. He immediately recognized the disastrous blunder of his actions and the fact that she was the wife of a highly powerful, influential senator made it all the worse. He crossed a line and he knew it.

Acknowledging his inappropriate reaction, he promptly backed away from her personal space, "I'm very sorry. I was completely out of line Mrs. Blake."

All the events and emotions of the recent days suddenly caught up to her. She had finally reached her tipping point as she cried, "Please, just leave me alone, this place is crazy - it's just - I can't - it's driving me nuts."

Punctuated with two heaving but quiet sobs, she slowly looked up at him. Kate saw the bewildered expression in his brown eyes, but even more clear was how _sorry_ he looked. _And, truthfully, wasn't she a bit wrong to snap at a man she barely knew, who was just trying to do his job?_

Pulling herself together and with a more composed voice Kate told him, "Hey. It's okay, I'm fine. I think I just have cabin fever… the days never seem to end. I think I'm slowly going mad. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm taking this out on you."

He softened his eyes and gave her a small smile, "I understand,we're all in a difficult and scary situation. I wish I could help." Exasperated and unsure what to say, he awkwardly added, "I have some books I can lend you, reading may help alleviate some of the stress-"

Kate knew that he meant well, but for whatever reason she just _couldn't_ let the bitter feeling towards him pass so easily. His warm smile unnerved her and she felt the intense need to push him away. She didn't want him to think that she 'forgave' him in any way for ruining her chance to contact her family.

So with a stubborn set of her chin, she haughtily responded, "No, thank you. I sincerely doubt that you and I share the same tastes in literature." Her snappy and condescending comment took him by surprise.

"Suit yourself." He flatly responded as he watched her march off. He raked his hand over the top of his head. Left speechless and dumbfounded as to what just happened between them. He was now fully convinced that every woman in the world was crazy.

* * *

At 1:00 pm, the announcement was made. The announcement was clipped and nondescript. The nation remained under a state of emergency. It had been determined that there was an outbreak of a highly infectious virus. Special forces in conjunction with the CDC have been organized to contain it. Human contact with the virus has thus far been shown to be invariably fatal. Cases have been cited in each of the seven continents. Its origin still remains unknown. The Vice Admiral has been advised to quarantine the vessel. No additional passengers were permitted aboard until further notice. The vessel was strictly prohibited to dock or go within a 50 mile radius of the shore.

Kate noticed that they provided no indication as to how widespread the outbreak was in the US, whether it was just in the metro DC area, east coast or had spread inland.

As they finished listening to the news, Kate could hear the gasps of shock followed by tears and sobbing from those around her. People began shouting and asking to contact loved ones. Others demanded more answers and access to the media and phones. The panic was growing by the second and some of the yelling erupted into full out brawls. Servicemen rushed in to break up the disruption. All civilians were then ordered to return to their assigned quarters until further announcement.

Kate laid in her bunk and knew in her heart that the situation was profoundly graver than what was just disclosed to them.


	3. Chapter 3

Day 8

Kate felt nauseous again, she bolted out of her room and sprang to the women's latrine. She barely made it to the toilet when she vomited. She had been sick the last couple of days. The ocean had been choppy and the ship swayed more than she was accustomed to. By the third evening with nausea, she just couldn't take it anymore. She relented and decided to go to the infirmary to see if she could get some anti-nausea medication. A soldier kindly showed her the way to the infirmary and she could almost feel the impending relief as she approached the door emblazoned with the universal red cross, that is until she saw _him_ standing in there. His back was facing her, but she had no doubt who that tall frame belonged to.

He sensed someone at that door, turned around and saw her. They _had_ been avoiding each other since their heated exchange in the mess hall. They even switched up their respective early morning exercise routines so as to avoid any possible confrontation, which ended up, ironically, with them bumping into each other in the evening at the gym.

Kate looked down before raising her head, "Hey, I'm sorry to bother you, I thought this was the infirmary-"

He responded matter-of-factly, "You're in the right place."

Kate was really confused now, "Oh, I need to see a doctor."

Jack drew a wide grin, "Well, you found one."

Incredulous, Kate gasped, "Wait a second… you're a doctor? I thought you were a pilot?"

He couldn't contain his small laugh, "Mrs. Blake you've found me out. By day I'm a pilot and in the evenings I moonlight as a surgeon." He looked at her skeptical expression, "What? You don't believe me? I know I don't have my diplomas and certifications displayed, but I assure you, I'm trained and fully licensed to practice medicine. My lab coat is hanging over there. I can even put it on if that makes you feel more comfortable. Feel free to ask me questions if you're concerned about my credentials." He enjoyed teasing her, her look of doubt was almost endearing.

Kate sucked in her breath, "No... I believe you."

He saw her wide-eyed expression and gave an assuring smile, "Okay then, so why don't you have a seat at the examination table while I go over to the sink and wash my hands."

She studied his movements as he prepared himself. _Why was she now noticing how well his camouflage cargo pants sat on his trim hips and the way his back muscles moved under the form fitting standard military green t-shirt? Why did she feel like she was breaking into a fever right now?_

He interrupted her thoughts as he approached her while stretching the surgical gloves onto his hands. He sat on a wheeled stool and, with his feet, inched up right in front of her, "So okay, what brings you here?" He noticed her reluctance to answer and paused before he asked her, "You know, if you would feel more comfortable with a female physician, we have one on board. The problem is, you will need to wait until the morning…?"

Kate shook her head, "No! You'll do-"

He let out an earthy laugh and a feigned look of hurt, "Well, gee …thanks. I think."

She rolled her eyes, _"That's_ _not _what I meant. So the thing is … I've been vomiting on and off for the last couple of days. I'm pretty sure I'm seasick."

Jack nodded, "Ok. So what I'm gonna do now is some standard stuff. Take your blood pressure, temperature, look at your pupils, check your glands, et cetera. And then I'll ask you some routine medical questions and based on all that we'll see what we come up with, okay?"

As he began to take her blood pressure, she noticed the tattoos along his muscular bicep and forearm. _His time spent at the gym has definitely NOT been in vain she quickly observed. _

She was acutely aware of his movements, particularly each time they made contact with her skin.

He was only a few inches away from Kate and for the first time, he was able to get a good close look at her features. She had freckles, something he had somehow missed before. Perhaps they had been covered with make up before. Her face was free of any cosmetics now. He quickly thought that she may even be more beautiful this way. She was inarguably sexy and alluring wearing the little black dress and smoldering charcoal eye shadow and pink lip gloss, but somehow he got the impression that this look was more true to her nature. And her brown hair was naturally curly, almost untamed, which added to the natural good looks she possessed. Her face was perfect to him.

He caught himself lingering too long on her and quickly returned his concentration to the exam, "Okay, so far everything's normal, you're little warm, but nothing out of the normal range. I'm going to ask you some routine questions now, okay?" He wheeled the chair over to the counter, ripped off the gloves and grabbed a clip board.

He started to read the list of questions, "Date of birth?"

She answered him.

"So that makes you almost 29, right?"

She nodded and promptly said "Yes."

"Your weight? We have a scale over there." He said as he pointed to the left side of the room.

She smiled, "Ahhh, I hate answering _that_ question."

He grinned back, "Are you serious? Why? You're tiny, I bet you weigh somewhere between 108- 115, right? Just let me know whether I'm in the ballpark."

"You're in the ballpark." He drew his head back and laughed, "108, then"

"Allergies?"

"None."

"Good. Next... are you pregnant?"

"No. Absolutely not."

He noticed the way she adamantly shook her head and the almost childish way she scrunched her cute little nose.

He bit his bottom lip to prevent himself from laughing at her vehement reaction, "So you're definitely, 100% not pregnant. When was your first day of your last menstrual cycle?"

"A little over two weeks ago."

He paused before asking the next question, it wasn't a medical necessity, but his personal curiosity got the better of him, "When was the last time you had sexual relations, specifically… intercourse?"

Kate cringed at the question and was now wishing more than ever that she waited for the female doctor. She looked down at her hands as she fidgeted with them, "Ummmm... 8-9 weeks? I think."

Jack was pretending to jot it down, "So, 8-9 days-"

"No, that's not what I said. Weeks NOT days."

Jack looked up at her and he could see she looked uncomfortable. Although, he briefly wondered how it was even possible that any man married to a woman _like her _wasn't making love to her each and every single day. It was confounding actually.

She was now bright red with embarrassment and he immediately felt guilty for asking this personal and unnecessary question. He didn't know why he whispered it, and almost conspiratorially too, but he felt compelled to give her some re-assurance, "Hey it's okay. It's been a while for me too."

With intense regret, he recoiled after he uttered those words. In his attempt to make amends and make her feel less awkward, he ended up disclosing something completely personal - and unprofessional. _Why on earth did he feel the need to let her in on his sex life or lack thereof? God, this is terrible, he thought. _

The two of them gazed awkwardly at one another, the heat between them undeniable and almost stifling. Kate bit her bottom lip and Jack took a long hard swallow. The room was charged and they each had no doubt what exact subject was lingering on the other's mind.

The intensity became unbearable and Jack needed to break the connection. So he coughed quietly into his hand and using his feet, rolled the chair away. He stood up and lightly added, "You know what Mrs. Blake? You may put me out of a job. I think you were correct in your self-diagnosis and are indeed suffering from seasickness. Let me give you some dramamine. That should alleviate the symptoms."

He walked over to the medicine cabinet and unlocked it, as he returned with a few packets, he paused to mention, "Oh I forgot to ask. Before I can give you any meds, I need to know whether you're taking any prescription medication. Or if you're on birth control."

Kate looked worried, she didn't want him to know, but she didn't want to take any stupid risks either. "Whatever I tell you is strictly confidential, right? I mean, your doctor's oath or whatever still applies, correct?"

He approached her and with solemnity he told her, "Of course. Absolutely. You have my word...doctor-patient confidentiality."

"You can't write this down. If my husband ever found out, he would absolutely go into a fit."

Jack's curiosity was quite piqued when he promised her, "I won't write it down."

"I'm taking birth control, but I'm not supposed to. My husband wants me to get pregnant.. but I don't want to."

Jack listened patiently, but felt compelled to ask "Stop me if I'm getting too personal. But why haven't you discussed with your husband the fact that you don't want children-"

Kate sighed, "I _do_ want children, but just not with him."

The lack of any social interaction over the past week must have had an effect on her, because she disclosed way more than she intended or even wanted to, so to change the subject she quickly asked, "Is it a problem to combine birth control with those meds?"

"Maybe, it can depend on what you're using."

Kate told him what she was specifically taking and he didn't see the problem with mixing the two.

As she stood and readied herself to leave, he mentioned "If you're not feeling any relief by tomorrow, come back and we'll see what remedy I can figure out for you, okay?'"

She nodded her head and gave him a wide smile. He handed her the medication and watched her walk out. She was a complete mystery to him. A _beautiful _mystery.

He was itching to discuss all this with Rick and get his take on the senator's young wife and the state of her marriage. But she was his patient now - so that was out of the question. However, he _was_ going to ask Rick to introduce her to his wife. The one thing he knew for certain, was that she was in dire need of someone to talk to and he had a good suspicion Rick's wife would fit the bill.

* * *

Rick walked into the small cabin he shared with Juliet. She had taken off the mattress and placed it on the floor in between the bunks. She felt like sitting up and the berths simply did not allow for that. With her head resting against the wall, she was reading a book.

"Juliet-"

She didn't move her eyes away from the page and she silently raised her hand indicating that he should wait a moment to allow her to finish.

While she was slowly finishing the chapter she was engrossed in, Rick carefully removed his boots and then sat cross legged in front of her. He studied her face, with its beautiful ice blue eyes and high cheekbones that were perfectly framed with long wavy golden locks. Her beauty crushed him at times, but mostly because of the way it emanated from the inside.

She felt him staring and couldn't bear his scrutiny any longer, "Yes?..."

"I miss our real bed." He casually told her as he caressed her cheek.

"Me too. I'll never be able to comprehend how you and Jack were able to get used to these arrangements." She lifted her arm and pointed around the tight quarters.

Juliet then looked down at the mattress and picked at it, she began to wonder whether they would ever sleep in their real bed again or see their family and friends. Would they ever start that family they talked about? Rick read her expression and knew exactly what she was thinking.

"Juliet, it's gonna be okay-"

Almost forlorn, she responded "Maybe, maybe not."

He gave her a kiss on her forehead and offered a weak smile.

Since the crisis began they spent hours each evening discussing their fears and theories as to what was actually happening out there. But now, he just desperately needed to change the subject, he never felt so helpless in his inability to protect the person he loved most.

"So, I have a little project for you.…" he grinned.

Juliet huffed, "Don't bother, Jack beat you to it. He already asked me if I could 'befriend' some lonely wife of a senator. Although, I'm curious to see what she looks like, being that the two of you seem overly concerned with her welfare and state of happiness."

She raised her right eyebrow waiting for her husband to make a comeback response and he looked ... sheepish. She loved teasing Rick. But the one thing she knew about Jack was that he always had the sincerest of intentions and if he was worried about this stranger, there was a legitimate reason.

Rick quirked his head up, "Hey Juliet, it's not like that. I can't speak for Jack, but I have to say I feel sorry for the girl. Her husband dumped her, she's alone. I witnessed it myself and it was plain heartless."

Juliet laughed, "I know Rick, I was half kidding."

Rick moaned, "You love doing this to me. Pulling my leg and making me feel like I put my foot in my big ole' Southern mouth. But I guess that's what I get for marrying the most brilliant, witty and sexy woman-"

She winked at him, "Flattery gets you everywhere Captain."

He stood up and began to unzip his cargo pants. The idea of laying down and grabbing a brief nap was enticing. He whispered, "Between you and me, I think Jack has an eye for her. He'll never admit it though, that stubborn son of a bitch-" He let out a knowing laugh.

"I thought you said she was married-" She interjected while wearing her typical thoughtful expression.

"She is... technically. Not so sure it even matters now. No way that ass is ever coming back for her."

Juliet wasn't as convinced as her husband. If she was worthy of the the attention she was getting from these two strangers, she couldn't imagine that this woman's husband would abandon her entirely. She gathered her hair and rolled it into a bun before fastening it with a clip, "Do you know what cabin number she is staying in? I'll go by and look for her in a little while. I'll introduce myself."


	4. Chapter 4

DAY 1

_"Whooah, we're half way there_

_ Livin' on a prayer_

_Take my hand and we'll make it - I swear_

_ Livin' on a prayer_

_GSKALGFLXDUIALFDUYASFYUIEAYFBIFYBUBSARTUOYHOZZZZNO I GXBJLKJMXOIJPOKPCINCUXIZ"SIPOXCP"_

"Baby, why the hell did you go and do that for?" He said as he looked at his wife's hand turning the radio dial in the middle of the song.

A bit irritated, she responded, "Shhhhh, you're gonna wake the baby. Plus, if I hear anymore 80's rock, I'll vomit. We've been listening to this for the past 2 hours. It's bad enough we had to live through mullets and acid wash jeans the first time around." He turned his head to quickly glance at the backseat of their black Jeep Cherokee. Their six year old daughter, their "baby" was sound asleep. Her head was awkwardly crooked to the side, her little cherub mouth wide open with some drool dripping down her cheek. She was still wearing her headphones and undoubtedly, "The Little Mermaid" DVD was still playing in the background.

"Naaaah. She's out. And when she's out. She's OUT." He said as he chuckled. Just thinking about his little blond angel sleeping in her booster seat brought a smile to his dimpled face.

"Honey, can you move her head a little? I don't want Clem to have a stiff neck." His wife reached over and adjusted their daughter's head into a more comfortable looking position. She went back to fidgeting with the radio and landed on a country music station.

"Patsy Cline? There ain't no way I'm listening to that." He moved the radio dial until he settled on what he thought was a fair compromise. "Woo, boy, howdy. It's the _man in black_, Johnny Cash." She didn't object and they continued their drive up I-95 in silence. They were more than halfway up to their vacation destination when the traffic on the interstate grounded to a halt.

"Grrrrrrrrr… look at this backup, must be some big accident up ahead. Maybe a flipped tractor-trailer?" Sawyer grunted before he began searching for a news station and traffic report.

"Cass, baby. Do me a solid and look up the traffic report on your phone. I can't seem to find anything on the damn radio." Cassidy located her phone and fidgeted around with it for a while. She frowned, "Nope, there's no mention of a traffic accident on I-95."

After not moving for five minutes, Sawyer was getting antsy. He rolled down the driver's side window and hung his head out. He could see that people were now getting out of their cars, so he did the same.

He looked over to the driver of the car that was idling next to him, "You know what's goin' on?" The driver shook his head, "Nope. No idea."

After a few minutes, Sawyer sat back in the seat and turned to his wife who was still scouring the internet for some information, "Any news?"

"Nothing, hon."

Forty-five minutes later and their car still hadn't moved an inch. By this point, Sawyer was impatiently rapping his fingers along the steering wheel.

With a furrowed brow, Cassidy checked on their still sleeping daughter and observed, "Clementine will probably need to use the bathroom when she wakes up."

Sawyer nodded, "I guess we'll deal with that when the time comes. If I have to, I'll take her to the side of the road behind the bushes. I'll use the baby wipes."

He stood out of the car again and the impatience and aggravation felt by the surrounding drivers was evident. He heard a motorcycle approach from the rear and he turned around to see a North Carolina State trooper weaving in and out of traffic. Sawyer quickly ran towards it with his badge raised in his right hand. The heavy set officer slowed down, but wore an irritated look on his round face.

Sawyer sighed a breath of relief, "Officer. Thanks for stopping. I'm Detective Ford, Atlanta PD. Do you have any information on this traffic jam? Is it close to being cleared up?"

"Detective, I have no information at this time, other than there has been an incident about 7 miles up the highway." And then he rode off.

Sawyer scowled under his breath, "Really? There was an 'incident'? No shit. Thanks for nothin' lardo." With frustration, he hopped back into the seat, but this time slamming the car door shut and unintentionally stirring his sleeping daughter.

They sat quietly for a while, waiting. Their silence was interrupted by what Sawyer thought was a vibration in the car. He had shut off the engine a while ago, so it wasn't that. He turned to Cassidy, "Do you feel that?"

She stood still and her eyes looked up in concentration. She could definitely feel a rumbling vibration, "Is it an earthquake?" Sawyer then slowly moved his face to look ahead. He began to see the people in the cars ahead of him exit their vehicles, some of them even climbing to the hoods and rooftops. Sawyer climbed out to get a better view, he then crawled onto the roof of their SUV. He sucked in his breath and felt the terror rise along his spine as the vision before him unfolded. There appeared to be a human stampede, a tidal wave of people running, hundreds, maybe even thousands of them. He began to hear yelling and screaming while they trampled over one another. He jumped off the roof, not even taking a second to wonder what they could possibly be running from. But whatever it was, it was bad.

"Cassidy, grab the baby's bag and unstrap her from the seat! Hurry, we have about a minute, if we're lucky. HURRY!" He checked his leg to make sure that his off-duty pistol was secured to his ankle holster and then reached into the glove compartment to grab the small case of rounds he kept for shooting range practice.

He grabbed Clementine from Cassidy's arms and they ran.

* * *

9 DAYS LATER

"Sawyer! Let us go with you to get supplies. We shouldn't separate. It's too dangerous. What if one of those _things_ comes back while you're gone?" Cassidy cried and was near hysteria. Her eyes permanently swollen from days of endless crying. And Sawyer was not faring much better. His eyes were bloodshot and he looked gaunt. He probably lost somewhere close to ten or fifteen pounds from all the stress over the past few days. They were living in a nightmare that they could never wake up from.

Drained and desperate, Sawyer nodded a _no_ to his wife and then added, "Cassie… no baby. It's too risky." The three of them had holed themselves up in an abandoned trailer in some park in southern Virginia. He had managed to round up some artillery during the looting that took place a few days back. He thought that they had grabbed enough food and supplies at the grocery store, but he saw that they had gravely miscalculated the amount they really needed.

"I'll leave you with the gun. The both of you just need to stay put and everything should be okay." I'm not heading into town, I'm just gonna canvass the neighborhood and see if I can grab some canned and dry goods that might've been abandoned in some of the houses."

Shaking side to side, she refused to accept what he was proposing. She sobbed loudly, "Nooooooooooooo Sawyer! Please, honey. I'm begging. Let us come with you. We _need_ to stick together." Cassidy's eyes were brimming with fear, her body convulsing with emotion. The thought of leaving his most cherished possessions filled him with terror. But his experience from the hellish past few days was that noise, crowds, anything that could draw attention was a very dangerous thing. _No_, he thought. It was much safer to go alone and be as silent as possible. _ Get in and get out. _

He shook his head and gave a final silent _no. _He then embraced her with a hug so tight, he may have actually hurt her. He cupped the back of her head and rubbed her back. They shared a deep kiss, knowing that it could well be their last. It was hard to separate from her, as if his heart was drawing blood from her veins. He quietly walked over to a dozing Clementine and took hold of that child with all he had. He deeply inhaled her scent, _that_ scent - sweet… and a little stinky too, but so _Clementine._

He whispered to Clem, "Daddy loves you, baby." He backed away from both them, with Cassidy now clinging onto their daughter. He took in their image and with a painful lump in his throat he whispered to them, "Daddy loves both his girls."

As he crept around, weaving in out of the abandoned cars, Sawyer kept telling himself that they can survive this. That if they could just ride it out, the government and the army would rescue them. They just needed to make it until then. Cassidy's a nurse and he's a cop, they had survival skills, he reminded himself again. They had an advantage over these walking dead creatures, these ghouls. Sawyer looked down at his revolver and was grateful that he was quick thinking enough to grab a few silencers during a looting at Walmart. The ability to suppress the sound of a gunshot had already saved their lives on a few occasions.

Over to his right, he saw a pair of _them_ drifting aimlessly. He heard the dragging shuffle of their steps mixed in with pathetic intermittent moans. He waited until they distanced themselves from him before continuing on. He stumbled across some carcasses, their stomachs had been torn out, intestines drawn and splattered everywhere. He had surprisingly grown accustomed to these gruesome sights over the past few days.

After two hours of scavenging, he made his way back to their trailer. To Sawyer's surprise, he made a good haul. He wasn't able to carry back as much he wanted, so he gathered what he was unable to take and hid it for future trips. He placed the supplies down and looked around to make sure that none of those _things_ had trailed behind him. He tried the door and waited for Cassidy to open. He stood listening and waiting.

"Cassie. Open the door."

Sawyer's heart leapt into his throat. Something had gone wrong. He could feel it. He kicked in the door and came across the scene. The grotesque, wet sound emanating from where Cassidy was hunched over little Clem. The sound of her chewing through skin and bone would be etched in his mind for an eternity.

Sawyer let out a bloodcurdling, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The creature that was once his wife, stood up. Her once beautiful, sparkling eyes now sunken and black. He saw the almost black molasses substance oozing from the gaping wound in her shoulder.

"WHY?! Why, why, why, baby? On no!" He cried.

It shuffled toward him, moaning and over the creature's shoulder he saw something begin to stir. Tears freely flowing now, he asked "Why did you do it to our baby? Oh god. I'm so sorry, so, so sorry. You were right." He raised his revolver and shot her point-blank in the forehead. He knew the harder task was next as the tiny figure began to crawl in his direction. He collapsed onto his knees, no longer able to bear the weight of what he needed to do, what he _had_ to do.

"Daddy loves his little girl."

* * *

The sun overhead was scorching as he sat against the trailer, legs sprawled. Wearing nothing but dirty, white boxer shorts, he was badly sunburned. Gun in his right hand, a half empty bottle of Jack Daniels in the other, he sat there waiting for more of those bastards to come near him. He had taken a few of them down this morning and was now drunkenly staring at their wounds, the dried marks and gouges riddled all over their bodies.

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and threw his head back. He raised the nozzle to his mouth-

"Don't do it, man!"

Sawyer put down the gun and looked over his right shoulder.

"Who the fuck are you? Mind your own goddamn business. Now mosey on. Skat!" He slurred.

The stranger, skinny, with short light brown hair and dark blue eyes didn't back down. "Listen, don't give up, man. Just don't."

With nostrils flared and eyes narrowed, Sawyer looked up at this man, "What's it to you? It's over for all of us anyway."

"You don't know that, there may be -"

"IT'S OVER FOR ME!" Sawyer bellowed with spittle flying from his lips.

"My wife and baby girl are DEAD!" He spat.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry about your family." The stranger paused to look at the tears stream down the sitting man's face. He waited a minute before he continued, "Listen. I just had to put down my brother. The only family I have in this shit world. I know loss too. I don't know what's gonna happen today or tomorrow. But all I know is that my bro, he wouldn't have wanted me to give up. At least not without taking out a bunch of these fuckers down first. I don't think your wife and little girl would want you to either."

They sat together for a while in silence. Sawyer roughly wiped the final tears from his eyes and nodded to the guy.

"What's your name?"

"Daryl. Daryl Dixon."

"I like your crossbow, Daryl."

* * *

DAY 14

The desolate street's silence was broken with the small sound of weeping, so quiet it could have easily been missed.

Daryl abruptly stopped and placed his hand on Sawyer's shoulder, "Pssst. Do ya hear that?" Sawyer paused and looked around, not hearing anything. Then there it was again, that... that little peep sound that could easily be mistaken for a wounded bird.

"Yeah, I heard it that time." Daryl nodded his head in the direction of the sound, gesturing for Sawyer to follow. Stealthily, with bow and rifle each cocked and ready, they began their search for the source of the sound. They were a few feet away when they approached the abandoned dust covered station wagon. But they were able to discern a small figure in the backseat. As they got closer, they saw the back of what looked like a young woman with long wavy blond hair. With shoulders hunched and convulsing, it appeared to them that she was crying.

Daryl lightly tapped on the windshield which immediately made her jump. She screamed and flung herself to the opposite end of the vehicle, as far away from the men as the confines of the car would permit.

They backed away from the station wagon. Sawyer understood. He knew what they must look like to her. They were two filthy looking men, armed with weapons. Of course, she was terrified. Sawyer looked at Daryl and then placed his rifle on the ground. He inched his way towards the skittish girl, with arms up and doing his best to appear as non-threatening as possible.

"It's okay Miss. We're not here to hurt you. We just want to make sure you're okay. I'm a police officer. I'll show you my badge."

He wiped some of the dust off the window and held up his badge and picture ID. The girl inched closer to the window and examined it.

"Ya don't have to unlock the doors or roll down the windows. We can talk just like this. Can you hear me?"

He saw her nod and wipe the tears off her cheeks. "So where's your family? Who's with ya? She let out a terrified scream, "They LEFT me! They... they left me."

"Who left you? Where're your people?" "

"The people from the bus. They left me" She whimpered.

Confused, Sawyer looked at Daryl who just shrugged his shoulders. Clearly, Daryl wasn't making any sense of her either.

Bewildered, Sawyer asked "Are you tellin' us... you're alone?"

She nodded her head. Sawyer and Daryl didn't need to discuss it, they were able to read each other's minds. They weren't going to leave her. Their twosome just became a party of three.

Sawyer bent over to the window again and asked, "Do you want to come with us? You don't have to. But I gotta tell you, I don't think you're gonna make it on your lonesome. Your chances are better if you come with us."

Claire looked directly into his eyes and for whatever reason, she trusted him and believed his words. "Yes."

Tentatively, she unlocked the doors and awkwardly climbed out of the backseat. As she stood up, the shock on the faces of both men was apparent as their focus honed in on her belly.

"Ok, let's make it a party of four then." Sawyer muttered under his breath.

"What did you say?" Claire's Australian accent now clearly audible.

"Nothing, I was just thinking out loud, that's all." Sawyer got a better look at her face and his eyes immediately watered and a lump formed in his throat. It was if he were transported fifteen years into the future and looking into the eyes of an adult Clem. The hair, soft round cheeks, the shape and eye color, it was uncanny. He choked back the small cry, even Daryl could see that his new friend was experiencing something emotional.

Sawyer took a deep breath and solemnly swore to himself that he would protect this girl. _ This time_, he wouldn't let anything happen to _her_.


	5. Chapter 5

Kate heard a light rapping on her cabin door. When she opened it, she was surprised to see the striking blond from the mess hall.

_Kate first spotted her sitting next to Captain Shephard at one of the tables. She had also noticed that they were engaged in a conversation and whatever she said had him laughing. Smiling and laughing suited him she had thought. He did have an amazing smile. Kate had briefly examined the woman that seemed to have this power over him and she couldn't help feeling a bit … unsettled. She was gorgeous. _

With her head tilted to the side, she asked "Hello, are you Katherine Blake?"

Kate looked at her questioningly, "Yes, and with whom am I speaking?"

"Oh, of course. I'm forgetting my manners, I'm Juliet, Juliet Grimes. I believe you've met my husband, Rick." Juliet then noticed that Kate's eyes were red and swollen, as if she had been crying, "If this this a bad time… I can come come back later."

Kate sniffled and rubbed her eyes, "No, now is fine. So how can I help you?"

"Well, Rick wanted me to come by and introduce myself. He is under the impression that I could use a female friend and he thought that you and I might hit it off. Personally, I think my husband and I have run out of things to say to one another." She winked at Kate conspiratorially.

Kate was more relieved than she cared to admit, she needed a companion. She's been so lonely. There was no moment of indecision when she accepted Juliet's offer.

Kate smirked, "I _would _invite you in, but there is no place for us to sit. Do you want to take a walk?"

"I know aren't these berthings the worst? I feel like I'm sleeping in a casket. Let's get some coffee or something."

As they poured the coffee into their cups, Kate looked around before whispering, "_This_ is just crazy, right?"

Juliet shook her head in disbelief, "I know. I wish we had more information and knew what we were up against. This crisis, I suspect it's worse than they're letting on."

Kate swallowed hard, "That's what my instinct is telling me too. Let's just pray that we're wrong…." The ends of Kate's mouth dipped. Once again thoughts of her family crept across her mind.

Juliet looked at the beautiful brunette and briefly wondered how they had not managed to cross paths until now. _If Jack hasn't already fallen for her, it's only a matter of time, Juliet thought - there was no doubt about that._

Huddled together at the end of the table, Juliet asked, "So, why don't you tell me about yourself? But talk about something that has nothing to do with being a senator's wife, which I'm pretty certain is the least interesting thing about you."

Kate laughed and she already liked her disarming manner, "Well, I'm from Illinois. But I've been living on the east coast since I was eighteen. I went to Columbia for undergrad and graduate school, I landed my first job in New York City-"

Juliet's eyes popped, "No way. I went to Columbia med school. What a coincidence." Kate rattled off questions wanting to know when Juliet was there and where she had lived. As if they we still in college, they giggled when they realized that their attendance overlapped for a brief period.

Juliet let out a hearty laugh,"I can't wait to tell Jack, he''ll get a total kick out of this-"

Kate raised her brow at her comment and Juliet noticed. "Oh, of course, you don't know. Jack and I went to med school together. That's how we met."

Kate still looked perplexed, "Alright. But you're married to Rick, who works with Jack... I'm not following how _that _happened."

Juliet chuckled, "Well… see, that's where it gets interesting. Jack actually set me up with Rick and, I guess, the rest is history."

Kate smiled, "Really? Well that sort of explains it. So how long were the two of you friends before you met Rick?"

"Not long, maybe nine months. Between you and me, I used to have a tiny crush on Jack. I mean look at the guy, he's gorgeous. Oh, and if you ever tell either one of them that, I'll deny it 'til I'm blue in the face." Juliet let out an earthy laugh and Kate's laughter followed.

Juliet continued, "Jack and Rick met at the Naval Academy. They were roommates freshman year and both served together as SEALs. Jack then went to medical school and Rick stayed in the service for a few more years. They both were until they were called back for active duty because of this crisis. They had no intention of returning to military life."

Kate jerked her head back, thinking she hadn't heard correctly, "Wait a second, did you just say they were Navy SEALs? I mean, that's…..ummmm….hardcore. Isn't it almost impossible to pass that program?" Her admiration was evident.

"Yeah, crazy right? But you're correct, the failure rate is high, about 80%. As a matter of fact, their good friend Shane Walsh failed the first time, but passed the training program on his second try. Rick and Shane stayed on with the SEALs and Jack went to medical school. Shane said that Jack was too soft for SEALs. Ironic coming from the guy who failed the training program the first time."

Kate looked inquiringly at Juliet, "Shane?"

"He's a loooong story," Juliet answered wryly.

Kate asked, "When you met Rick was he still a SEAL?"

"No. He had finished his commitment to the SEALs. Rick had just moved to Atlanta, he's from Georgia originally. He's a stockbroker now. Once we got serious, he transferred up to the New York City office."

There was no denying it, Kate was simply intrigued by these two men and the lovely woman sitting in front of her. Their stories were fascinating. Juliet was one fortunate woman, Kate observed. Her husband was so handsome and seemingly kind. Kate yearned to dig up more facts on Jack Shephard, but that would seem too obvious. At least for now.

* * *

Juliet walked by the infirmary to see if she could catch up with Jack. He was there, organizing the medicine cabinet. Never one for sitting still, he always had to be fixing something, a trait of his she observed a long time ago.

"Hi Jack."

He turned around to the direction of her soft voice, "Hey Juliet." Jack drew a warm smile, she was like the sister he never had. They were close and had been accused of perhaps being too close at times. On more than one occasion, Juliet had confided in Jack when there were problems with Rick. Especially during those times Rick would seem to retreat to a very dark place. She attributed those moods to the military missions. Rick never spoke of the special operations he performed, but she knew that some of them were ugly. Rick still had nightmares and there were days he could be so distant.

Jack always tried to help Juliet understand Rick during those periods. If it weren't for Jack, she probably would have left him a long time ago. It was the reason why she was so reluctant to start a family. Rick had stayed in SEALs far too long. And Juliet was convinced that if not for Shane, he would have left earlier. Jack was smart, he left before there was irreversible harm.

She smiled back, "Sooooo."

Eyebrows lifted and expectant, he asked "So?"

"I spoke to _her."_

Always earnest, Jack was sometimes not the most adept at being coy, "Who are you talking about?

"You're fooling no one, Jack. You know exactly who I'm referring to. She's lovely, by the way. Nothing at all like you described and led me to believe. You made it sound like she was some spoiled and shallow socialite. She couldn't be anything further from that."

Juliet bit back the smile that was inching across her face, "But somehow, I think you knew that was the case. Maybe you wanted an independent confirmation of your true suspicions?"

He rolled his eyes and looked down at his boots, the big grin creeping across his lips, "Wow, you really think you have me pegged, huh? You're wrong by the way."

Not swayed by his weak response, she continued, "Whatever. She went to Columbia. Small world, huh? I really like her and I'm happy that you asked me to introduce myself. No offense, but there is only so much a girl can take of you and Rick."

Jack laughed, hands resting on his hips. "Columbia? Really?" He paused to think about it before asking, "So is that it? I guess I'm a pretty good matchmaker. First Rick and now her. You owe me _big_ time, Juliet."

With an eyebrow quirked, "If she weren't married, I'd like to say that I would reciprocate right now."

The heat in the room seemed to turn up, he cleared his dry throat, "That's _not_ why I asked you to speak to her. I met her husband. I know she's married. I felt sorry for her. That's all."

Juliet walked over and drew him into a big bear hug, "I believe you. I know what a good heart you have. But it's okay to be a little selfish sometimes. Do I have to remind you that you're human? I would actually be more worried if you weren't attracted to her."

He pulled himself away and looked into her pretty face, "I think you're a troublemaker. And thank god, you''re Rick's problem to contend with," he added with a laugh.

* * *

He heard some faint music echoing from an open cabin. He was about to pass by when he saw her. He paused to take a better look. Kate was on the floor in the narrow space between the 2 sets of bunk beds. She was doing push-ups, her form impeccable. Music playing from her nearby iPhone.

With a grin, he told her, "You know, if you tuck in your elbows a little -"

She stopped abruptly, her agitation obvious in her expression as she kneeled back on her calves. She was NOT pleased by his interruption.

Breathing heavily, she asked "Why do you _all_ do that? It's so annoying."

Jack looked at her quizzically, "What do you mean? What are you talking about?"

She huffed as she shifted into a sitting position, "Men. They are always offering advice to women when it's not being asked for. If I had a dollar for every time I was at the gym and some know-it-all had to reprimand me on my form. Meanwhile, most of them are lifting weights incorrectly. God -"

She did have a point, he thought. But he also didn't think it was his place to tell her that he was 100% certain that those men used that line as an excuse to talk to her.

She looked up at him, "Well, now that you so _rudely_ interrupted, you might as well make yourself useful and hold my feet down while I finish my last set of sit-ups. _Come on_."

He was about to protest, thinking better of this and how it may appear to an onlooker, a fellow officer specifically, but he peered down at her face and the charming way her eyebrows were raised expectantly.

_Why not? What would be the real harm in it? _He thought as he cautiously walked over and kneeled at her feet.

He gently grasped her ankles as she proceeded to do her sit-ups. Her eyes were closed and he could see the small beads of sweat that had formed on her forehead and in the space between her breasts…. It was time to shift his gaze. He'd been caught by her once already.

198…199...200 - done. She sat up and adjusted her position as she tried to even out her breathing. She began to reach over to grab the bottle of water that was sitting on the lower bunk, but he got to it first and passed it over to her.

"Thanks" she said still somewhat breathlessly as she took a sip, nodded and then held it up to show her appreciation.

"You're welcome." He grinned, his eyes slightly scrunched at the corners.

"I'm going crazy here. I'm losing all sense of time and I just need to keep busy. Try to think about something else, you know?"

"Well, exercise is good. It certainly gives me clarity. I know you were using the treadmill in the gym before we had to unplug them to reserve power."

With a hint of mirth, Kate answered "Ahhh, yes, the treadmill, my last ditch hope of preserving a shred of my sanity and the U.S. Navy took it away from me." She gave him a feigned accusatory look.

He chuckled at her response and he understood what she meant. Then a small lull took over and Kate thought it was an opportune moment to ask if he had any information whatsoever as to what is happening on the outside, "So, Captain Shephard. It has been almost two weeks since… since- what exactly is going on? -"

He looked at her and assumed she was concerned about her husband, "I'm sorry, we still haven't heard back from your husband, but I don't think you should worry, I'm sure he is safe and well-"

Kate rolled her eyes and let out a snort of disgust that took Jack by surprise.

"Oh, I wasn't asking about him, I have no doubt that Brian's fine. He is quite adept at looking out after himself. Trust me, right now he is sitting in some plush bunker shooting back shots of vodka with the likes of the prime minister of Russia as the entire world's going to shit. And I'm sure that he has found a female friend or two to keep him company as well-"

Jack raised his brows in response to her personal disclosure, their pattern of conversation had managed to, again, take another uncomfortable turn - if that were even possible. How was he supposed to respond to her this time?

She could see his discomfort and she felt suddenly guilty for unleashing all her personal garbage onto this poor unsuspecting man.

Her eyes softened, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to go into this embarrassing tirade. It's just- my god, what you must think of me right now -" She looked away, embarrassed.

He saw the sweet way her cheeks turned red and it was endearing, "Listen, it's okay. You have been aboard a ship with a bunch of strangers for almost two weeks meanwhile the entire world has turned upside down. It's okay to have a small meltdown."

She squinted her eyes at him with the slightest hint of annoyance and humor, " 'Small meltdown', that smacks of condescension, Captain Shephard."

He sucked in his breath and stood up, "I think that's my cue to leave. I can't seem to choose the right words with you, Kate."

Kate looked at him curiously and he registered her questioning look, "Okay, what did I just say now?"

A little surprised, she commented, "You called me 'Kate', it's just … only my family and close friends call me that. How did you know?-"

He stiffened up, "My apologies Mrs Blake. I didn't mean to be disrespectful-"

"No, you weren't. Please. I want you to call me Kate, okay? Really. I insist on it"

He smiled shyly and nodded before he turned around. And she couldn't stop herself from taking a long look at his firm behind as he walked out. _God, he was sexy…_.

She indulged herself and allowed her thoughts to linger on the handsome captain, doctor, pilot … whatever, for a few minutes before those sober thoughts crept back into her mind- as they always did. She still hadn't slept longer than a 4 hour stretch, her dreams haunted by death. She stood up and crawled into the bunk. She laid herself down and started to dry heave with tears streaming down her face. She thought of her parents, sister and nephew for the millionth time. She thought of her friends. What had come of them? What was left of anything? Would she even be alive tomorrow or next month?

* * *

Day 21

As the skies darkened, Kate stared out through the tiny porthole in the cabin. There had been some movement aboard the ships, some people were transferred to other vessels and as of a few days ago she now shared the cabin with a couple and their young son.

That evening there was an announcement. Individuals designated as non-essential would be transferred to a smaller ship and await assignment for a refugee camp. Kate's heart sunk, without Brian on board, she knew she was "non-essential." The thought of being separated from Juliet sent her into a near panic. Juliet had become her lifeline over the past couple of weeks. Juliet was the only one capable of giving her words of comfort and making her feel as if she were not entirely alone in this frightening new world.

She didn't know why, but she found herself avoiding Jack Shephard. They bumped into each other often enough, but their encounters were invariably strained. Both of them would look downward and search for the right words to say to one another. Never one for the lack of conversation, she didn't understand why her throat seemed to dry up in his presence. She tried to blame it on his serious and unreadable demeanor, but deep down, she knew it was more than that. Perhaps it was the way his soft brown eyes could somehow explore her own carefully and intensely as if trying to read her thoughts.

The news of the relocation, of course, was not received lightly. There were those that were fearful of being brought to the mainland and thus more susceptible to exposure to the virus. If there were refugee camps, that meant it was bad out there. It meant that civilization as they knew it no longer existed. Much worse than any of them contemplated. People began to shout and Kate had to push herself through the crowd to escape.

She suddenly grew impatient and wanted to demand answers. She marched over to Juliet's cabin.

The three them were already standing in the tight quarters, huddled, obviously engaged deep in conversation. With no hesitation, she charged in.

"I NEED to know what's really going on. I know that you all know what is happening. I believe you know what this virus is. I'm sick to death of being kept in the dark."

Jack, Rick and Juliet turned their faces towards her and recognized her obvious frustration with the circumstances.

Juliet was the first to break the silence, "Kate, we don't know as much as you think we do. Information is not free flowing and in most respects we are even trying to piece the puzzle together…." Her voice drifted off as she stared directly in Jack's direction.

Kate followed Juliet's gaze and bore her eyes into Jack before she dryly asked, "What do you know, Dr. Shephard?" She then had the look of being poised for a grim answer.

She watched him rest his hands on his hips as he looked up to the ceiling, as if he was trying to gather his thoughts into a coherent statement. He turned and looked directly into her eyes, "A few days ago, I was given access to some privileged cables. The senior officers aboard the ship wanted my clinical opinion." Kate watched him swallow hard before he continued, "The virus has reached pandemic proportions. There is no corner of the globe that has not been exposed."

Kate's eyes watered and she felt two tears run down her cheek, she nodded and her expression urged him to continue.

"The virus is passed by human contact. Specifically, by a bite, laceration or ingestion of infected blood.

As she cradled her arms around herself, she raised her chin, confused, she asked "Bite?"

Jack rubbed the top of his closely cropped hair, "Yes, a bite. When bitten, it is invariably fatal. Until the victim is re-animated and then -"

Kate shuddered before stepping backwards, she whispered "Re-animated?"

She looked at the three of them. Her eyes finally resting on Rick, trying to find the truth in his expression. She felt betrayed, because surely what they were saying was a joke. They were withholding information, the only people she trusted in the world at this point were mocking her. They were talking about 'zombies'.

"Fuck you. Go to hell!" Her face was red with frustration and disappointment as she shouted and then stumbled out of the cabin.

She could hear Juliet shout her name and urge her to come back, but at this point Kate was racing down the narrow corridor.

Juliet began to move to the doorway as she looked at the men, "I'm going to get Kate and try to convince her to come back and hear us out-"

Jack blocked her, "Juliet, let me talk to her. Maybe if I can explain to her what we know, she'll understand that we're not lying. Because that's what she thinks we're doing. And, I can't quite blame her either. This virus defies everything we know and understand about science…."

Scouring nearly every corner of the carrier, he finally found her. A little ball sitting in a dark corner aboard the deck. She had her legs pulled up with her arms wrapped around her knees, her long, tangled hair shielding her face. He strolled closer and stood looking down at her. He had a strong urge to erase the seemingly vast distance between them, so he knelt down beside her tiny form, "Kate?"

She moved her face towards his voice and with the aid of the moonlight, he could see that her eyes were swollen.

He sighed, "I know Kate. I know what you're thinking and it all sounds so unreal. I consider myself a man of science and what I've read…."

The deep swallow from his throat was loud and could be heard over the gentle waves of the ocean, "What I've read, Kate. I find it to be unbelievable. But all the documents I've reviewed give the exact same account-"

It was almost impossible to conceive of, Kate thought dazedly. "Zombies! What you're talking about are zombies. You know that, don't you? Except they're supposed to be make believe, science fiction. No such thing exists." She looked expectantly at him, as if begging him to contradict her.

With a long sigh, he rested his head in his hands, rubbing his temples, "I don't get it either, Kate. Yet all the stories are consistent. The infected victim dies, but comes back to 'life', except he or she no longer seems to have a soul, it is simply a walking corpse. However, these creatures are lethal and extremely dangerous, they-"

Kate interrupted him. "If you're about to tell me that they feed on people-" She looked at his sober face and could tell that he was not going to refute her outlandish comment.

In a high pitched voice that she barely recognized as her own, "You're not serious. Tell me that you're not serious."

He raised his eyebrows, almost apologetically.

"Oh my god." She moaned.

Even in the darkness, he could see her face pale slightly. She looked almost iridescent.

They sat silently next to each other, staring straight ahead into the ocean darkness, the soft breeze brushing their cheeks. Under any other circumstances, their shared position would be described as romantic and perfect for lovers, but instead it was burdened with fear and despair.

She broke the heavy silence, "So it looks like I'll be jumping ship tomorrow. Being a 'non-essential' and all. Does that mean it's pretty much over for me now? Are we going to be able to survive out there"

Adamantly, he shook his head, "No Kate. I promise you'll be safe. Rick and Juliet are being assigned to the same freighter as you. They'll make sure to go wherever you go. We've already decided that."

The implication of Jack's statement not lost on her. _They were looking out after her, virtual strangers, yet-_

A lone tear ran down her cheek. Jack's stare followed its slow and ragged path down to her chin. Despite his relatively positive news, she still looked crestfallen. For the briefest moment he thought, she appeared disappointed and saddened.

"What about you?" As the words escaped her lips, she immediately detected the inflection of her voice that gave away too much of her real feelings. With a false appearance of composure, she continued, "I mean, you're so close to Rick and Juliet. I can't imagine that you want to be separated from _them_."

"I'm supposed to stay on board here and continue north to collaborate with the Royal Navy. There is a refugee camp in Nova Scotia…"

Kate attempted to wipe the tears before they bled down her face. She nodded quickly, as if wanting Jack to know that she understood, "That makes sense-"

Jack's eyes watered slightly. The exhaustion and stress of the past few weeks catching up with him now. He didn't know why, but as he stared into her face, something told him that he could not allow himself to be separated from her. It was almost instinctual and it unnerved him. In his entire life, he never felt as drawn to another person as he did at this very moment.

"Can I ask you a question?"

Jack nodded.

"Why are you here? I mean, you were wrapping up your surgical residency and now you find yourself gobsmacked in the middle of service again. Juliet didn't give me any details, but I'm curious."

His eyebrows raised, "You and Juliet were talking about me?"

With a small earthy laugh, Kate answered, "Oh don't let your ego read too much into this. We talked about a lot of things."

Jack chuckled before responding, "Well, I was finally approaching eligibility to retire to full-time civilian status, in September actually. But as you can see, my plans were derailed. And here I am. My flying skills and medical background are considered essential right now. So I suppose I'll be on active duty indefinitely."

"I'm sorry about that. But maybe you're better off and safer here than you would be as a civilian." Kate observed.

"I've thought about that often, you know. And I've come to the conclusion that I probably would have volunteered for active duty anyway."

Kate thought hard about asking her next question. She knew the answer because Juliet had told her, but she didn't know the 'why'?

With a big swallow, she asked "Is there anyone back home waiting for you?"

Jack didn't expect that personal question from her and tilted his head to the side before nodding to answer, "If you mean whether I have a significant other, the answer is no. The Navy, then med school and my residency haven't exactly been conducive to maintaining relationships. As for family, I'm an only child and my parents passed away. So, Rick and Juliet are my family now."

"I'm sorry about your parents."

Silent, Jack looked straight ahead, "Thank you. My father died last year, he was a surgeon too. My mother passed away two years before that. My grandfather was in the Navy. So I think I may have been subconsciously trying to follow the footsteps of the Shephard men before me."

"Oh, I was about to ask why you chose a life in Navy, I guess that explains it. Sort of."

"My dad wasn't too keen on me joining the Navy, but I wanted to choose my own path. And yes, before you say anything, I see the irony…." He flashed her a smile so charming, she had to look away.

She bit her bottom lip and rolled her eyes almost playfully. He was relieved to see her almost smile.

Now that he spilled some personal information, he found himself needing to ask questions. Specifically, he wanted to know how, and most importantly why, she came to be married to Senator Blake. He understood the appeal from the Senator's end, that was obvious. Kate was young, smart and beautiful. But they didn't seem to fit together, from what he could tell, she never mentioned him or exhibited any concern over him. And just as he was about to ask her, she let out a big yawn.

Jack drew a deep breath and looked at his watch. He then stood, "It's getting late. Let me walk you back to your cabin."

He extended his hand and gripped Kate's forearm to gently pull her up.

As they reached her door, she nervously rubbed her palms on the front of her yoga pants. They turned to face each other.

"So, I guess this is goodbye then." She glanced downward at her feet. He swore that her voice seemed to choke ever so slightly.

Jack looked at her tender expression, "I'll make sure to wish you farewell before you leave tomorrow. Good night, Kate."

"Good night." She said as she watched him walk off.

* * *

It took all of 3 minutes for Kate to gather the few belongings she had left in this world. By mid morning, most of the civilians had been transferred to the freighter. Rick and Juliet had already departed and informed her that they would look for her upon her arrival.

With her leather bag in hand, Kate intentionally lingered on the carrier, she allowed others to skip ahead of her in line, but the time for her to leave was quickly nearing.

She was just outside the landing pad, when the soldier made the final call to gather the last group. Kate made a last visual sweep across the deck before joining the line. She felt a hard lump in her throat. She didn't understand why she felt so disappointed by Jack's absence. He was a virtual stranger in the scheme of things- yet… he had promised to say goodbye to her. Reluctantly, she took her seat aboard the helicopter and the co-pilot was about to shut the door when she heard a shout.

"Is there room for one more?"

Kate looked to her left and saw _him_. He had a large government issued duffle bag slung over his shoulder as he approached the helicopter.

He climbed into the cabin and plunked right down next to her. Kate gave him a questioning look mixed with a barely contained smile.

"What? How? I thought you were going north-"

He exhaled, "Last minute change in assignment, someone more senior wanted my spot, so I volunteered for this." He then threw her a smile and a wink.

Kate's eyes widened and she sucked in her breath. Did her stomach actually do a flip? She smiled warmly back at him before they ascended. They sat quietly for the 5 minute flight, but it was a silence borne of... contentment.

As promised Juliet and Rick were waiting on the deck. Rick's eyes lit up when he saw Jack climb out, "Hey, what're you doing here, man?" He then drew Jack into a hug.

"Last minute assignment change. you know how that goes." Rick saw Kate over Jack's shoulder and smirked. He wondered what kind of strings Jack pulled to get re-assigned and he had a feeling that the pretty brunette had a lot to do with his motivation.

Rick gave him a knowing grin,"Yeah, right. _Assignment change_. So it's like old times, I guess. Good to have you here, bro. I know you'll always have my back."

Juliet was standing next to Kate before the four of them headed below to find out what was in store for them next.

**Author's note: Thank you to everyone that has left me feedback. I can't tell you how much it inspires me and makes me want to continue the story.**


	6. Chapter 6

DAY 26

On the fifth day of the freighter, the control room had lost contact with U.S.S. Truman and most of the U.S. fleet across the Atlantic coast. There was intermittent contact with some international ships, but those communications dwindled as time progressed. They were able to keep in regular contact with U.S.S. MacArthur in the Pacific and a few others, but the sheer geographical distance between them made it impossible for them to join together. There was no military central command or leadership and it soon became evident that each vessel was on its own. The rear admiral, as the commanding officer, was set to go to the refugee camp in Nova Scotia, but then was advised that it was beyond capacity and couldn't accommodate more civilians. They soon found that that was the case with most refugee camps along the eastern boarder and even more grim, that many camps had been contaminated and abandoned. This news alarmed the rear admiral the most.

Rick refused to give up hope. He promised to keep Juliet safe and he had every intention of honoring his promise. He relied on whatever communications experience he had and spent hours trying to establish contact and to attain reliable information. He was noticing the panic that was slowly permeating throughout the freighter. He knew that staying aboard would soon no longer be an option. Senior officers were either at a loss or in disagreement on how to proceed. There seemed to be no place for them to go and with ship resources finite, they were fearful in risking fuel to journey to a location that was uninhabitable or overrun with the infected.

The crew began to ration food and supplies in preparation for the worst. They concluded that they could stay at sea for about 6-7 months without needing to go ashore for replenishment.

It was just after midnight when Jack went to the control room, he saw Rick hunched over the telecommunications equipment and scouring manuals.

"Hey man, I thought I'd find you holed up in here. Have you even slept in the past two days?" Rick turned to his friend, exhaustion radiating from his face and posture. He had even grown stubble on his once clean-shaven face. Over the past few days, the stress had forced the soldiers to become lax in their stringent grooming routine.

Rick yawned, "Naaah. I can't sleep. I'm determined to find some shore or base activity. I've been relying on satellite comms, but it's not enough. Fuck the vice admiral for not sending us with a seasoned communications specialist." Succumbing to frustration, he threw the communications manual against the wall. The other officer on duty, who had nodded off, was now jolted awake.

"Jack, it's really fucked up out there. I mean it. The world's pretty much gone up in flames. I promised Juliet that I would get us off of this freighter." Rick aggressively rubbed his temples and let out a frustrated yell into the air. "We can't stay here forever. We have to make a plan. I'm not waiting anymore for the officers in charge to make a decision."

Jack crossed his arms and looked pensively at Rick, "So what are you saying? That we sail towards shore and hope for the best. Rick, we can't bring all these people ashore and just keep our fingers crossed. We need to know that there is a safe place to take them to." Jack paused and stared into his friend's tired face. For the past few days, Jack noticed that Rick has been particularly on edge. He understood that Rick had phobic-like reactions to feeling trapped and isolated and they were justified.

"You sound like _them_. Like you've given up."

"That's bullshit, Rick. And you know it. You really think I trust them with our lives, or Juliet and … Kate's? All I'm saying is we need to figure something out first."

Rick drew a deep breath of frustration, he knew Jack was right. _Think Rick, think…._

Jack watched Rick rise hastily and make his way towards some equipment on the opposite side of the room. Working furiously, Rick began turning knobs and flipping switches. He placed a headset on and began a coded transmission that he hadn't used since his days in Afghanistan with Shane. For hours he kept at it and had almost given up when he finally received a transmission.

Rick began to furiously jot down the message, it was a number for a satellite phone. Rick turned to look at Jack so he could tell him the news, but saw that Jack had drifted to sleep in one of the armchairs in the corner, his mouth agape and head awkwardly drooping to the side.

Rick grabbed the charging 'sat' phone and dialed it. After a few rings he was greeted with a booming Southern voice, "Well, it's about time, you dumb motherfucker! I was wondering when you'd finally wise up and use _our_ secret code."

"Wooooo! It's good to hear from you too, you bastard." Brimming with relief and excitement, Rick laughed loudly, such that he stirred Jack out of his deep slumber. Jack stretched his limbs and stood up to move next to Rick so he could listen attentively.

"Where the fuck are ya? I'm at Fort Aberdeen in Virginia, it's a shut down army base, but it's a refugee camp now. A total shithole, but at least it's safe and we've been able to keep them 'walkers' out. There's also some pretty girls here too, but I know you ain't interested in that no more. Heh-heh."

Jack rolled his eyes at the last comment, certain things never change and Shane was one of them.

"Walsh, we're on a U.S. freighter about fifty miles off the Carolinas. I got Shephard here with me too." Rick turned and gave Jack a big grin. They could hear Shane let out a whoop and holler, "Tell that uptight son of a bitch I miss him too, ha! So when are you all coming here?"

Minutes later, Rick excitedly relayed the information he had gathered from Shane to the commanding officer. He gave the exact coordinates of the camp's location, details of the facilities and requested approval for immediate deployment.

The rear admiral looked nervous and unsure, "I'm not so sure Captain Grimes…it's still dangerous and…." Somehow, the stumbling hesitancy of the officer's speech made Rick want to slap him. He stopped listening to the ramblings. Rick tried to maintain the level of deference and respect owed to a commanding officer, but he sure wasn't going to leave Juliet and Kate's lives hanging in the balance because this guy was a weak fucktard.

Rick turned to Jack for some back up and was dismayed to see that it didn't look like he was going to get it. "Jack?… We found a safe place to go, just like you said. What changed your mind?"

Jack took a hard gulp, "Listen Rick, the rear admiral may be correct. Perhaps our safest option is to stay here and try to ride out the crisis. We have 6-7 months of supplies, that may be enough to get us through. We have children aboard, we can't take this lightly. And how are we going to get everyone there safely? The base is located quite a few miles inland-"

Rick's eyes were ablaze. But he was outranked and the commanding officer was dismissing his recommended course of action. He requested permission to leave and left promptly. Jack swiftly followed, "Rick. Rick." His friend refused to turn around to face him, but when he felt that Jack was right on his heels, he spun around.

"What the fuck was that in there, Jack? I thought you got my back!"

"Rick, it's not like that. I'm trying to do what's safest for everyone and I think staying-"

Rick got into Jack's face and spat, "Staying here is tantamount to suicide. Do you have any fucking clue as to what's really going on on this ship? Because I don't think you do. You're so busy taking care of headaches and rashes, you're not seeing what's happening to the people on board. Yesterday, five fistfights. Five! Two days ago, a seventeen year old girl was almost raped. And how about the guy that committed suicide by jumping overboard? Why do you think the rear admiral has us under strict order to not leak the fact that we have lost almost all communication with the outside world? Because he knows people will really panic then and we'll have a mutiny on our hands. That's why. This place is a ticking time bomb. And the civilians have no idea what a real clusterfuck this is."

"Rick, I understand where you're coming from, but let's think this through. Let's weigh all the options-"

"Jack, so help me god… if the real reason you don't want to go is because of Shane-"

"Now, wait a second, Rick. If you think I'd compromise lives because of Shane…. Well, then you don't know me at all." Rick could detect a look of slight hurt in Jack's eyes, but he was too furious with him at the moment to really care. He just wanted Jack out of his face.

Jack watched Rick storm down the corridor. But Rick's words lingered in his mind, because there was an element of truth to them. His friendship with Shane has always been a stormy one and he couldn't shake the feeling that when it came to Shane, trouble always seemed to follow.

* * *

DAY 29

Rick had barely spoken to him since their disagreement a few days ago. Having his best friend so angry with him, weighed heavily on Jack's conscience. Just as he was doing now, he had kept himself busy in the infirmary over the past few days. Either organizing supplies or tending to minor stomach bugs and headaches. The limited free time he had was spent talking to fellow soldiers or Kate and Juliet. They kept asking him what was going on between him and Rick, but he refused to go into any detail. They were under strict orders not to discuss the camp.

He could hear the commotion even from the infirmary. He stood at the door to inspect; the sight of people running down the narrow hallway greeted him. He looked on curiously, the fear in their faces and movements perplexing. Then, a gunshot rang out, then two more, echoing through the narrow hallways. He immediately leapt into action, instinctually running towards Kate's cabin. He should have been running towards the sound of the gunshots, but his thoughts turned to her immediately.

What the hell was going on? He thought as he pulled the door open to her room, finding it empty. He then ran to the galley, the apparent source of the noise.

Kate stood frozen, in disbelief of what she just saw. Everyone else that witnessed what happened had ran away, but she felt frozen in place, terrified. She was knocked out of her thoughts by whimpering nearby. She looked down, the woman who had just been shot at point-blank range by her husband shook and convulsed, blood pooling onto the floor beneath her. Kate looked over at the gunman, who had blown his head off, surely dead, and let out a gut-wrenching sob, the shock of the moment reaching her. The woman still whimpered and groaned. Kate sprung into action, kneeling beside her, taking a towel from a bench nearby and applying it to her gunshot wound.

The woman's eyes flickered a couple of times, and ghastly, tired groans were the last noises she made before her face was blank of any pain, death finally claiming her. Kate could barely breathe, funneling air into her mouth on a quick inhale. In that moment, she heard someone rush in. She looked up and he was there.

"_Jack_?" She said it so feebly, tears in her eyes, still applying the now drenched towel to the dead woman's wounds with clinched fists. Something inside of him shifted in that moment, the horrifying scene mingled with the first time she ever called him by his first name made him shudder. He felt like he had been punched in the gut.

He immediately went to her, pulling her to her feet. She was covered in blood. "Are you hurt?" He asked quickly, pretty much yelling at her, blunt emotion in his tone. Not waiting for her answer, he gripped and pulled at her shirt to find any sign of a wound. There wasn't one, but he still frantically searched.

"He came in and he…" Kate breathed, her voice low and numb. Jack barely heard her words as he continued to sweep every inch of her for any sign of injury. _The blood wasn't hers_. She was okay.

Jack cupped her face in his hands, staring at her with a concern that would have formed a huge lump in her throat if death wasn't surrounding them. He realized that she was shaking, her eyes averting back and forth to the scene, the woman she tried to save, her husband, the man who killed her. _The man she trusted_. She started to cry, breaking down as Jack tried to get her to focus on him. He drew her into his arms, in an attempt to ease her convulsing.

Kate's voice shook, her tears flowing down her cheeks and into his palms. "He just...shot her, Jack! He killed his wife!"

Jack looked over at the woman's husband. The gunshot at his temple was neat. He knew just how to make sure he didn't leave a mess. Worst of all, he recognized the soldier. They were cordial enough to each other, but he never gave him the impression that he could be capable of something like this. Jack knew in that moment that whatever was going on in the world had found its way onto the ship and was causing this havoc. He knew that this wasn't the end. They were no longer safe here.

Jack pulled Kate out of the embrace, forcing her to look at him and not at the carnage around them. Rick was right, they have to leave. "We need to find Rick and Juliet and get out of here." He said, dragging her to the door.

**Author's note: Thanks again for all the reviews and feedback. I definitely take them to heart. And a special thanks to Erica for her help with the last part of this chapter.**


	7. Chapter 7

DAY 20

"Claire PUSH!"

"No, No, No. It's too early! He's not supposed to come out for another three weeks!"

"Claire, honey … this baby's coming now. You have to push!" Sawyer begged.

"Noooooooooo. I'm not ready. This world is horrible. It's all death! I want to die!"

Sawyer slapped her hard on the thigh to snap her out of it. "NEVER say that. You're gonna be a mama. And you need to give this little fella' all your love. He ain't gonna survive with just Daryl and me! He needs his mother. Claire, PLEASE push!

Daryl could see that Claire was not inhaling. Panicked, Daryl told her, "Don't hold your breath, Claire. You won't be able to push if you - Claire? Claire, what're you doing? Ohhhhhhhh no. No you don't. Claire, you need to push, right now. Don't do this, Claire, okay? You can't stop this - this is happening. Your baby is coming and we need your help."

Claire grimaced in pain, "He knows I don't want him, that I was going to give him away. Babies know that stuff."

Daryl looked down at her, his eyes pleading. "Do you want this baby now? Huh? Do you want him to be healthy and safe?" Claire nodded.

"Okay, then the baby knows that, too. You're not alone in this. Sawyer and I are here for you. This baby is all of ours, but we need you to push, okay? Okay? Alright. 1, 2, 3, push. Good. Good, push!"

Sawyer looked at this precious girl. She was supposed to deliver this baby in a fancy hospital in Atlanta. She would have had an epidural and the best doctors money could buy. She would give him up to the wealthy family that planned to adopt him. Instead, it was the three of them in an abandoned veterinary clinic, surrounded by Walkers. They were terrified. He was relying on the single experience he had delivering a baby. He was a patrol cop and his partner and good friend Miles were on detail. A woman went into labor and the EMT didn't make it on time. Officers Ford and Chang were on the evening news, they were heroes that delivered a healthy 8 pound boy.

Sawyer was mustering all the strength he could find and whispered into the air, "Cassie, I wish you were here. Help me!" He _needed_ her_,_ a nurse experienced in delivering babies. But instead he had Daryl, who was a seasoned hunter, wieldy with a knife. Daryl was accustomed to the sight of blood and more. Unbeknownst to Claire, the two of them had rummaged for books on anatomy and medicine. In case, in case… they needed to perform a C-section.

Daryl clutched onto her right hand. He had never been so afraid in his entire life. Even when his father had beaten him and his brother Earl senseless time and time again. _No, he had never been so frightened._ Her screams had attracted some Walkers to the outside of the clinic. He had barricaded the entries to the best of his ability. But he could still hear their moaning and incessant attempts to make their way in. It was a sheer miracle that the clinic was still operable, backed-up by a generator. They had sterile equipment, which they had no idea how to use. But they were able to boil hot water and disinfect scalpels.

Sawyer was in between her legs. Waiting for the baby to crown. The arms of his shirt were rolled up and he was wearing surgical gloves. He was petrified. Suddenly, they heard the rumbling outside, a big storm was approaching. Daryl ran to a window and peeked through the blinds, he saw a bolt of lightning violently flash across the sky. A loud roll of thunder rumbled in the distance that seemed to distract the Walkers and they slowly began to move away from the clinic and follow the direction of the sound of the storm.

"Woooo! The Walkers are leaving! They're headed towards the thunder." Daryl let out a sigh of relief.

Sawyer looked up at the ceiling reverently and shouted, "Thank you, Lord!"

And with that the lights flickered on and off before the room went black, the generator had gone out.

"I TAKE THAT BACK!"

* * *

DAY 29

Anxiety was hardening in Kate's chest as Jack pulled her along the labyrinth of corridors inside the freighter. They were approaching her cabin and he stopped to face her. "I'm going to find Rick and Juliet and we're going to leave. Why don't you wash up and pack up as much as you can easily carry. Then go inside your cabin and wait for me." She stood frozen in place, still dazed and shaken by the bloody events from moments ago. Unconsciously, he slid his hand up the side of her face, then cradled it. She leaned her cheek into his palm and briefly closed her eyes. She couldn't remember the last time she was touched with such tenderness. With a barely audible groan, he reluctantly drew his arm back to his side. _What are you doing, Jack? _He wondered to himself.

"Everything is going to be okay. I promise."

She watched him sprint down in the direction of Rick and Juliet's quarters. She still felt the wake of heat on her cheek left from his palm. She stepped in the cabin she shared with a family, they were Swiss diplomats. Kate searched in her bag for some clean clothes and then eyed the hiking backpack belonging to the thirteen year old-son. She approached the mother, "Would you like to trade bags? I'll give you my travel bag in exchange for your son's backpack?" The woman looked at Kate skeptically.

Incredulously the woman asked, "You want to trade your Hermès Birkin travel bag for my son's backpack? Your bag is worth over $20,000. Is it a fake?"

Kate raised her eyebrows and shook her head, "I assure you of its authenticity, it was purchased in the Paris flagship boutique."

The woman inspected it and said, "Fine." Kate was about to finalize the deal when she also spotted the boy's hiking boots. They looked about her size. Kate quickly interjected, "And the boots." She pointed in their direction. The woman sensed an air of desperation in Kate's behavior.

"No. The bag for the bag. What else do you have to trade for the boots?" Kate shook her head and curled her lips, in disbelief of this woman's greed. Kate went into the inner pocket of her bag and pulled out her diamond wedding band. She had stopped wearing it the day her husband left her on the ship.

Kate looked at the woman square in the face, "How about this? It's two carats, from Cartier. It's worth a small fortune. I think that's fair." Kate was about to throw in the three carat engagement ring, but thought better of it. She may need to trade it later on for something else. To someone that was either optimistic or stupid enough to believe that material things like this really meant anything anymore. The woman carefully read the engraved '_Cartier_' inside the ring.

"You have a deal."

Kate grinned, deriving a perverse delight from trading over $40,000 worth of gifts from Brian in exchange for two items worth about $300. He would have a mild heart attack if he knew.

About an hour later, he came to her cabin. She was alone and had some time to settle her nerves. Her heart rate had finally steadied after she allowed herself a few minutes to simply cry.

Flushed, she smiled up at him. He was freshly showered, no longer covered in blood and he was now wearing his pilot gear. "Rick and Juliet are on the deck." He watched her begin to put her arm through the strap of the backpack. He quickly moved to stand behind her and assist with getting it on her shoulders. He took his time in helping her adjust the pack and then he gently cupped her shoulders before letting the straps settle on her. He grinned looking at the pack, "That's smart, easier to carry. How did you get it?" Kate rolled her eyes and said facetiously, "I got it for a real bargain." She then chuckled, clearly amused, "I traded my bag and wedding band for it." Jack looked curiously at her, waiting for her to elaborate on her willingness to give away her wedding band. She grinned, "I'll explain it all to you later."

He walked behind her and let her lead the way to the deck. She looked over her shoulder and asked, "It looks like we're flying out of here. How did you manage to get a chopper?" He smirked, "Rick negotiated a trade, a real bargain." Kate quirked her eyebrow in question. Now he grinned, "I'll explain it all to you later." He added a wink.

Juliet was already strapped in the backseat. Rick was quickly securing some rifles and ammunition into the cabin of the helicopter. He saw Jack and Kate quickly approaching. "Well, it's about time. I was wondering when the two of you were going to show up. Let's get this bird in the air."

"Wait up! Wait up!"

Jack and Rick looked over their shoulders to see a dumpy, middle-aged man running in their direction. Rick looked at Jack in question, wordlessly asking him if he knew what this was about. But Jack just shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm coming with you!" The man asserted.

Rick looked at the guy wearily, "Now a wait a second-"

The man wiped the sweat from his brow, his breathing was heavy, "You got room for one more. You can't leave me here. My name's Arzt, Leslie Arzt." Rick pulled Jack to the side, and quietly asked, "Who the hell is this guy? How did he know we were leaving?"

Jack's eyes widened, "Don't ask me, I haven't seen him before. So what do we do?" Rick groaned, he didn't want to create a scene or stir up trouble for the rear admiral. Their leaving was supposed to be a secret. He reluctantly waved Arzt toward the helicopter.

Grateful, Leslie said, "Thank god. I need to get off this ship. The atmosphere in this place is combustible. It's about to blow up like a stick of dynamite."

Jack and Rick strapped themselves in and began furiously flipping switches and the engine started. Jack looked at the fuel gage and threw Rick a worried glance.

"Is that all the fuel we have? Is that enough to get us there? Let's re-fuel." Jack reached over to shut off the engine, but Rick placed his gloved hand on his wrist. He gravely shook his head, "That's all we're getting. And it's gonna be real close based the coordinates Shane gave me." Both men then slowly looked over their shoulders to stare in the direction of the extra 250 pounds they were now carrying.

Rick sighed, "Nothing we can do about it now. Let's lift out of here."

* * *

Claire's lips pursed together and she puffed out a few short breaths before pushing again.

"That's it Claire! I see the head. You're close." Sawyer exclaimed, a relieved smile creeping up his face.

They counted to ten and then she pushed, tiny shoulders were now revealed.

"One more push Claire. Just one more."

With the last push, the little boy slid out. Sawyer's hands were trembling. Daryl kneeled next to him. He clamped the umbilical chord and cut it with a scalpel. Sawyer then placed his finger in the baby's mouth and removed the mucus. The child now began to wail. He then gently placed him on Claire's chest. Sawyer pressed the top of his wrist against his mouth in an attempt to muffle his cries of joy and relief.

"He's okay. He's healthy." Sawyer said out loud as his shoulders sank.

The three of them huddled in the dim room that was lit now only by a flashlight and a battery operated lantern. They all weeped.

Once they seemed to finally reach a sense of calm, Sawyer looked at both Claire and Daryl, "So I think we have a problem though."

They stared at him, both wearing a worried expression.

With a big grin and deep dimples on full display, he asked, "What are you gonna name the little guy? Got a name picked out?"

They laughed a sigh of relief. Claire looked down at the tiny bundle that was now busy suckling at her breast, "I have no idea. Do you have any suggestions?"

Sawyer and Daryl both looked down at this little being that somehow represented hope to them.

Sawyer gently touched the baby's foot, "He looks like an Aaron to me."


	8. Chapter 8

Kate felt the slight jolt and that brief elevator sensation as the Navy Seahawk began its ascent from the helipad. The loud sound of the whirring twin propellers made it difficult to talk in the passenger compartment, not that there was much to be said. Kate looked over to her side, at the ocean, the beating of her heart seeming to coincide with the loud "thump-thump" vibration coming from the aircraft.

After nearly forty-five minutes, they neared the Virginia coastline. Jack kept eyeing the fuel gauge. The army base was located in the northern part of the Blue Ridge Mountains. They were cutting it close. As much as he never would want to admit it, he resented Rick for a second. He should have insisted that they get more fuel before taking off. Rick was always a bit more of a risk taker than him, but he was never irresponsible. If Rick said that they weren't able to get more gas, there had to be a legitimate reason and Jack would have to take his word for it. He was just worried that they would be forced to land in an unsafe and contaminated area.

Everyone stiffened as they began their flight over downtown Norfolk. Jack and Rick reduced their altitude to better survey the view below. Kate loosened the harness that held her in, so she could look over Juliet's shoulder. Both of them squinted to get a better view. They weren't prepared for the scene. The streets were riddled with corpses, abandoned and overturned vehicles, some of them looked stripped, others burned out. There were also some tanks and damaged Humvees, an apparent convoy that met with no success. There was debris strewn everywhere. And, of course, there they were, the infected wandering individually and in packs among the cars and alleyways. Some walked aimlessly while others dragged themselves along the streets, their bottom halves completely missing. Kate and Juliet instinctually gripped each other's hand and began to silently weep at the sight of the carnage of the burnt city.

Stammering, Arzt tried to shout over the steady drone of the rotors, "I think this was a bad idea, we should turn back." His eyes were stretched with fear. He unstrapped himself and crawled over to the pilots and stuck his head between them.

Agitated, Rick shouted at him, "What the hell are you doing? Get back in your seat! "

"We need to go back! " Arzt shouted.

Rick glared at him, "It's too late for that. So unless you want to take a chute and try to make your way to the beach and swim to the freighter, it ain't happening. So get back in your _fucking_ seat." Sulking, Arzt returned to his seat and remained silent for the remainder of the flight.

The shadow of their chopper glided over the varying terrains, soon the city gave way to the suburbs where boarded up homes, strip malls and trash strewn streets were abundant. At times they saw stretches of interstate highways below, some parts were covered by bumper to bumper abandoned cars. They saw more of the walking corpses and some non-infected as well. Some of the people had even saw the helicopter and waved their arms trying to get the attention of the pilots. Kate wanted to tell Jack and Rick, but within seconds the small group of people were no longer in seeing distance. The landscape became increasingly more rural as they continued their approach to their target approximately 70 miles south of the Maryland border. It was a shut down army base tucked away in the mountains. The rest of the flight gave Kate a chance to collect her thoughts and wonder what was in store for them next.

Rick looked at the fuel dial and knew there was no way they were going to make it, the blinking red light had been on long enough. As if reading Rick's mind, Jack spoke into his headset, "We need to find a safe place to land her, I don't want the engine to flameout. We're gonna have to complete the mission by foot."

"I think we have some distance left in the tank." Rick wanted to continue over the mountains and cover as much ground as possible.

Jack shook his head, "We need to find one of the main roads that lead to the camp and land near there." Jack and Rick knew how to maneuver the helicopter in the event of fuel exhaustion. But performing the flight control inputs necessary to enter an autorotation must be performed within about two seconds of the loss of engine power in order to execute a safe emergency landing. He didn't want to risk it.

"Next available clearing I see, I'm landing her."

Rick knew he was right, "Yeah, but I don't want to land on Route 601, there are too many of those things roaming around." They were about a mile south of one of the arteries that led to the camp. Once they reached that side road, they would have to journey a few miles westward by foot.

"There's a small meadow over that ridge, west of 601. It seems like a safe enough distance from the road." Jack veered the craft and made the approach to the landing spot.

The helicopter landed and the engine shut down. An unearthly stillness followed.

Jack and Rick simultaneously removed their helmets and aviator sunglasses as they looked around. Rick turned to the three behind them, "You stay here, Jack and I are going to go out and make sure it's safe." They both grabbed their weapons, flipped the safeties off and stealthily moved out. Kate could see them make some hand signals to one another as they both deftly moved northward and then separated. They each scaled the outer edge of the meadow, stopping from time to time to put on binoculars and look around. They jogged back.

Jack raised his left wrist and read the time on his chronograph watch, it was almost 2:00 pm. He pulled the cabin door open, "The coast is clear … so far. We're going to have to move fast, if we want to make it by nightfall. Rick's on the 'sat' phone, trying to get in touch with Shane so we can rendezvous for pick up on our way there. We need to hurry though." Jack held his hand out to help Juliet and Kate step off.

Jack looked at Rick working on the phone, "Any luck?"

Rick shook his head.

It was a hot June day and Kate removed the sheer fitted long sleeve shirt she was wearing, opting to go with just the tank top that was underneath. She looked at Jack, "You can't be too comfortable wearing all that gear. Can't you take some of it off?" He took a fleeting glance at Kate in her clingy black deep v-neck tank top. The swell of her perfect small cleavage clearly visible to him. He itched to touch her.

Jack felt the sweat run down his back he was unsure if it was being caused by the hot Virginia summer day or the gorgeous woman before him who had an unprecedented knack at calling every nerve in his body into attention.

He was wearing a long sleeve camouflage field shirt, heavy cargo field pants, chest armor plate carrier, and knee guards. Not to mention the gloves. He nodded at her, "Yeah, I think you're onto something." He placed down his rifle and began unfastening straps and eventually peeled down to his army green undershirt. He tucked in his Dog Tags and put the chest plate on again. Rick did the same.

Kate asked, "The Navy still issues Dog Tags? I thought they were obsolete…."

Jack smiled at her, "Yeah, it's still a tradition despite DNA technology."

Rick and Jack then both began to unload some of the rifles from the helicopter handing one to Kate, Juliet and Arzt. Arzt immediately protested, "Unh-unh. I don't know how to use one of those."

Impatient, Rick quipped, "Take it easy. It's empty. You think I'd just hand you over a loaded semi-automatic rifle? Are you nuts? But I do need you three to help us carry them."

Kate watched Jack kneel down to open his camouflage backpack with its prominent "U.S." embroidered on the back. He stuffed some rounds of ammunition in it and other equipment that she couldn't identify. She observed how his back muscles seemed to roll under the fitted t-shirt and she had to literally drag her stare away from his flexing biceps.

With a smile, Kate asked, "So what else do you have in there besides enough rounds to take down a small army?" She had to stop the grin from creeping up her face.

He caught her slightly bemused smile, "Well a 'legitimate' SEAL survival kit for starters. What do you have in your pack? You know? Just in case." He could even detect the subtle flirtatious inflection in his own voice. Kate bit her bottom lip, exposing the top row of her white teeth and glanced downward, "Well nothing _useful _like that, I have some shoes, shirts … a little black dress. But then again that's what I have _you_ for, right?" His eyebrows rose in amusement. Before giving him a chance to retort she sauntered away to stand next to Juliet. He remembered that little black dress…. too well.

Rick activated the helicopter's homing beacon and winked at Jack, "Don't want to give her back to the taxpayer yet. I think we can retrieve her later on."

Rick had his compass in hand and led the way. Jack trailed behind the four of them, covering the back.

Rick whispered, "If we head through these woods and continue NW we should run into the road." Just as they were about to leave the meadow they heard some approaching footsteps muffled by dry leaves. It sounded like more than one set and they were coming fast. Rick backed up and signaled for Juliet, Kate and Arzt to stand behind them. Jack placed his gloved index finger on his lips indicating for them to keep quiet. Jack and Rick raised their rifles at the direction of the oncoming noise and waited.

A tall, breathless man emerged from the opening of the wooded area. Wide-eyed, he immediately halted when he saw the pair of assault rifles aimed in his direction. He was quickly followed by two others who nearly collided into him because of his abrupt stop.

"Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Don't shoot!" The man raised his arms in surrender, he turned to his company and gestured for them to do the same.

Jack made a head gesture towards the direction behind them and asked, "Why are you running? Are you being trailed by the infected?"

"No. No. We saw your chopper overhead and it looked like you were landing. We just ran over here 'cause we were hoping we could hitch a ride." That is when they heard the unmistakable sound of a young infant's wail. Jack and the others slowly looked towards the source of the sound and that is when they spotted the pretty young blond girl cradling a baby that was being carried in a harness in front of her.

Jack and Rick lowered their guns. Rick asked, "Is there anyone else with you?" The smaller man spoke this time, "No man. It's just the four of us."

Juliet's eyes beelined to the infant, "How old is the baby?"

The girl answered, "I delivered him 9 days ago." Juliet nodded at the direction of the men and asked, "Which one of you is the father?"

The taller man seemed to be growing impatient, a slight flare of his nostrils apparent, but he tried to keep it in check, "What is this? '20 Questions'? Not that it's any of your business, but _neither_ of us are the daddy. We came across her about a couple of weeks back. The people she was with up and left her."

Juliet was slowly digesting all the information. In her typical, steady and even voice she asked, "So, the two of you delivered the baby?" They both nodded at the same time. Unconsciously, Juliet took a step towards the child, but the men instinctually formed a small protective wall around the woman. Juliet stopped and in a very apologetic tone she tried to explain herself, "I'm sorry. I'm an OB/GYN. I was just hoping to take a look at the child and make sure that everything's okay. I won't if you don't want me to."

The two men looked at each other and nodded. Aaron has been fussy as of late and they sure could use some medical attention for him. Juliet carefully walked towards Claire and the two of them moved away from the edge and went into the clearing, so they could lay the baby down and Juliet could get a better look.

Jack asked, "So, has it been just the three of you and then the baby since the outbreak began?"

"More or less. I came across Daryl here about 9 to 10 days after it all started and then we found Claire about 5 days after that. My name's James Sawyer Ford, I go by Sawyer."

Stunned, Kate had to ask, "And the three of you, I mean the four of you, have been surviving out here _alone_? How is that even possible?"

"Let me tell you sweetheart, we've been asking ourselves that damn question every single day. I guess we've been lucky." His face dropped then and he looked at Daryl, "Well, I take that back, some of us have been a little more fortunate."

Daryl blurted out, "Where are y'all headed? We were going north, towards D.C. figuring that there may be some safe zones up there 'cause of the President and all."

Rick looked solemnly at him, "Hate to break the news, but D.C. is overrun. Can you hold on a sec?" He looked at Jack and could tell that his friend was thinking the same thing. He motioned for Jack to follow him. Out of hearing distance, Rick asked, "You're on board with asking them if they want to come with us?"

Jack nodded, "Yeah. We can't leave them and the baby-"

"Wait a second! Is that such a smart idea? We don't even know them! They're going to slow us down and bring us unneeded attention from those creatures. They have a baby that's going to cry all the time. How do you know they can even be trusted?" Arzt interjected after he snuck up behind Jack and Rick in order to eavesdrop.

Rick was at the end of his rope with this guy, "First of all, no one asked you for your opinion. Second, Jack and I are calling the shots. Three, they can be trusted. Those two men helped a helpless stranger and delivered her baby, all at grave risk to themselves. Four, I don't trust _you_."

Rick walked over to Sawyer and Daryl, "Okay. So I've got some bad news. The chopper is out of fuel. We were on our way to a refugee camp, but had to land her. If we don't run into any complications, we should be able to get there before nightfall. The four of you are welcome to join us."

Sawyer's cop instinct told him to trust these people. They were _good_, he could tell. He turned to Daryl who was hoping that Sawyer would accept the invitation. The last few weeks have been harrowing to say the least. Not only were they forced to fend themselves from Walkers, but some desperate and bad people as well. Sawyer read the answer to his question in Daryl's exhausted face. His expression was still hard, but Sawyer shook a 'yes' to Rick.

Juliet approached them smiling and wiped her hands on the back of her jeans. She looked at the men, "You did good. Aaron's a perfect little boy. You should be proud. By the way, nice job in cutting the umbilical chord." The corners of her eyes crinkled ever so slightly and then she flashed a wide smile.

Sawyer thanked her and then turned to Jack and Rick, "We better start haulin' ass. Your chopper made a lot of noise and that means the Walkers heard it. They're attracted to sounds, so I reckon they'll be drawn to this area."

Upon hearing this, both Jack and Rick pulled out the noise suppressors from their packs and snapped them onto the muzzles of each of their rifles.

In silence, they crossed the small distance of the meadow's edge and entered the woods, ready to begin their five hour trek.


	9. Chapter 9

The nine of them bore north. Although the forest was interrupted by a stretch of interstate highway and some dirt roads, it was still raw country. They trudged along in the heat that was made slightly more bearable by the shade from the canopy of tree leaves.

Sawyer was the first to break the silence, "So where y'all been stationed before your copter ran out of gas?" Rick looked at him, "We've been out at sea since day one of the outbreak. This is the first time we've been on land."

Sawyer gave Jack and Rick a once over and lifted his chin in their direction, "You two Navy?" Jack nodded. Sawyer continued, "So what's the government's plan? Are they finding a cure for this virus? How are they going to save us?" Jack, Kate, Juliet and Rick all exchanged an uncomfortable look in response to his questions. Adept from years of criminal interrogations, Sawyer was able to easily read their facial expressions.

He grimaced, "Are you shittin' me? Are you saying that Uncle Sam is just as fucked as we are?"

Kate spoke up, "The ship we were on lost contact with central command days ago." Sawyer quickly eyed the brunette, "And who are you? Cause you ain't Navy. That's for sure." Kate paused a beat and cleared her throat, "Kate. My name's Kate Austen."

Jack jerked his head in her direction as she said that. It was the second instance that day, in which Kate seemed to shed her identity as the senator's wife. And he began wondering what it actually meant. Juliet and Rick exchanged curious glances, piqued by Kate's decision to address herself by her apparent maiden name.

Daryl, who had been listening quietly all along interrupted, "Sounds like there hasn't been too much debriefing going on in the Navy. I say this cause if you all knew what was really going on here, you'd know that it's probably best to try to stay off the roads as much as possible."

Jack reacted slightly to the underlying tone of condescension in that comment. A little harshly, Jack asked him, "And why do you say that..?" Jack paused mid-sentence, not remembering the man's name. But Daryl completed it for him, "It's Daryl."

"Okay 'Daryl'. Are you going to keep us in suspense or are you going to tell us why we should avoid the roads, including the back roads? Because that seems like the fastest way for us to get to the camp. If we have to go in the mountains, we're not gonna make it by nightfall. And that seems like a more dangerous scenario."

Daryl looked to Sawyer to explain. "See, there was no warning or exodus plan. Nothing. Roads were backed up for miles, bumper to bumper cars and people had no idea what was going on a few miles down the road. Turns out that swarms of Walkers are spilling among cars, climbing over guardrails, eating their way through the crowds. And most folks are like sitting ducks, they have no idea what's heading their way before it's too late. There's also lots of Walkers trapped in the cars, that were packed too tight to one another, and the doors couldn't open. Anyways, the ones that are trapped inside the cars, if they hear noise they start to moan and call for others . And hell, before you know it, it's a loud demented concert of sick groans and that attracts the Walkers that are out roaming. The three of us tried to take a short cut on a congested road about two weeks ago. We barely made it out with our lives. We had to abandon a bunch of our supplies and start from scratch."

Daryl then added, "And in case the G-men in charge didn't tell you, there's only one way to take out those fuckers, you gotta blow out the brain."

Soberly, Jack and Rick digested the newfound information.

As they spoke in hushed voices, they pushed along until they reached a small clearing in the forest. They stopped walking and the silence of the woods was interrupted by a loud screech from an eagle flying overhead. Some yards in the distance they could see a narrow gully and on the other side of it was a thin flat stretch lightly interspersed with trees, a few cars could be seen peaking through. They were close to the road.

With one hand resting on his hip and rifle held in the other Rick stopped to ask Daryl and Sawyer, "So let me ask you something. If the roads are so dangerous, how come we haven't seen any _'Walkers'_?" Rick's voice struggled using this new term to describe those that were infected. "We're only about a half mile west of I-601."

Sawyer shook his head and broke into a grin, "Well see, that's cause there's a long stretch of retaining wall on '601. We just got a little lucky that's all."

Jack asked, "Are you saying that you've been only traveling on foot through the woods? How is it that even possible?"

Sawyer shook his head, "Nah, we've found some barren roads and when we do, we try to drive a car and cover as much distance as we can. But you got to be careful because the car can attract a swarm of them and you don't want to find yourself stuck and surrounded."

There were so many questions on the tip of Jack's tongue that he wanted to pepper Daryl and Sawyer with. Sensing this, Rick approached his friend and advised him in a low voice, "I think we gotta listen to them. They've been out here surviving for a month, and with an infant no less." Rick's right, thought Jack, he should probably ease up and try trusting them a bit.

"Jack and I are going to go past the gully and a do a sweep of the road, if we don't see any …_Walkers _or abandoned cars, maybe we can hike it as far as we can and then go through the mountains if we have to." Daryl nodded. "I'll go with you guys. Sawyer, you can stay back here."

Kate watched the three men jog northward. Sawyer then turned his attention to his company, "So ladies, I guess that means you get my protection." He grinned again, his childish dimples making clear indentations in his masculine face. He then looked at Arzt, "And you too, Boss."

He turned to Juliet, "So tell me Blondie, how are you, Shortcake and … him hooked up with some Navy SEALS?" Juliet's right eyebrow perked up, wondering how he managed to deduce that they were SEALs.

"How do you know that they used to be SEALs?"

Slightly proud of himself for obviously impressing the pretty blonde, Sawyer elaborated, "I can tell by the way they're scouting the forest that they've seen some real action on the ground. They haven't spent time pushing papers at some desk, that's for sure. I figured they were special ops. And since they wore NAVY desert suits, I just guessed SEALs. Looks like I was right."

A wry smile swept across Juliet's face. She had made some observations as well. Despite his prickly exterior and his punchy one-liners and nicknames, there was more to him. He was working pretty hard to keep up the tough guy affect that was often betrayed by the loving and caring way he treated Claire. Sawyer was constantly checking on the young girl and taking turns with carrying the baby.

"Hmmmm. That's pretty astute. Now it's my turn. Based on your keen power of observation and familiarity with military formation and tactics, I'm guessing that you're a cop, federal agent or a private investigator. So, am I close?"

He chuckled, "Damn woman! You're good. I'm a detective, Atlanta PD." He then scratched his head in wonderment. He then looked at Kate, and a light of recognition began to dawn in his eyes. "Now, where do I know you from? You're a Yankee and that accent is throwing me off some." Kate tried to look unassuming, she knew why she looked familiar to him. She _was _the wife of the prominent senator of Georgia. They had a huge house in an upscale Atlanta suburb and were often pictured in local newspapers. But she was unwilling to disclose that. As far as she was concerned, that identity died. She was now back to being Kate, the woman she was before she got married, the person she had been willing to go to great lengths to be again. Katherine Blake was dead, she was just another poor victim of the outbreak.

With a tight smile, "I'm from Chicago, I guess I just have one of those faces." He threw her a look that said he wasn't buying it, but Kate interjected before he had a chance to probe any further, "Juliet is Rick's wife, Leslie told me he's a high school science teacher from New Jersey and I'm an investment banker just tagging along." Sawyer knew she was trying to be evasive, but let it go for now, but not without stating another observation.

"Well, Freckles, _he_ don't mind that you're 'tagging along'."

Kate raised her brows in surprise, "I'm sorry?"

With a small grunt, Sawyer gestured his head in the direction of Jack, "Captain Ha-Ha over there. He _don't mind_ that you're tagging along." He then grinned at her wide-eyed expression, "Just call 'em how I seem 'em."

For some reason, Sawyer's reveal made a hot blush flash across her cheeks. The heat of it forced her to look down at her foot which was now nervously poking at the dirt. She could hear Sawyer, Arzt and Juliet talking in the background. She wasn't listening, her thoughts now solely focused on Sawyer's words and she found herself hoping that he was right, that Jack actually had feelings for her that went beyond an obligation to just look after her.

The small, nearly inaudible crack of a tree branch suddenly snapped Kate out of her reverie. Deep in conversation, Juliet and the rest of them didn't hear it. She looked towards the direction of the noise and that is when she spotted one of _them_ about fifty feet away. It appeared to be a man, his face half eaten off, the nose and lips were gone, the scalp partially hanging to the side.

Without thinking, Kate took a few frantic steps toward Sawyer and yanked the handgun that was tucked into the back waistband of his jeans. She unlocked the safety and with one steady shot, she hit the Walker square in the forehead. Just as the first fell, two others emerged behind. Methodically, Kate took down the other two in the same fashion, a single bullet to each of their heads.

Jack and the others crawled up the slight ridge of the gully just in time to take in the scene. The three of them then took off in the direction of the opening where the infected had creeped through. With their rifles aimed and ready they paused a few beats waiting for more to follow. None did. So they headed back to the group.

"Damn, you all didn't mention that you brought Annie Oakley." Sawyer whooped. Surprise registered on Jack's face because, more or less, Sawyer articulated in his own special way what Jack was thinking. Everyone else was too stunned to partake in Sawyer's amusement. In particular, Arzt looked as if he were about to have a heart attack.

Instead Jack's eyes were intensely focused on Kate who stood white-faced and silent. Her right hand that held the gun was trembling and her gaze fixed on the fallen corpses.

There was the slight sound of a throat being cleared and they all looked at Rick, "Ahem, well it looks like Kate took care of that situation. The back road has a long straight away and it looks like it's safe to travel on, at least for now. But we can't see what's beyond the bend a few miles down. A jack-knifed tractor trailer is blocking the entry onto the road, so there were only a couple of empty abandoned cars from what we could tell. Unfortunately, the gas tanks are empty. We better get moving now . Who knows how many more of those Walkers may be coming from the south."

"Allrighty then, Hoss. Let's mosey on out of here." Sawyer said as he then turned around to extend his hand towards Kate, "If you don't mind, I'll be taking my weapon back."

They all descended upon the road, walking silently along it, kept in motion by the prevailing sense of fear and unease. The four armed men positioned themselves in a box-like formation, with the others contained within.

Jack took a deep breath through the nostrils before turning to look at the side of Kate's face. "So when did you learn to shoot, Kate? While you were studying for your MBA or playing the role of the senator's perfect wife?"

Instantly, she felt hurt by his unexpected terse words that were tinged with sarcasm. Although Kate didn't understand the source of his sudden displeasure, she wasn't apologetic either. "It wasn't like I was keeping it a secret, Jack." She answered evenly and looked straight ahead.

Jack huffed at that, "Really, Kate? Because from my perspective you seem to keep loads of secrets." Those words stung and hit her hard. All she could muster at that point was an icy glare of admonishment in his direction before walking over to Claire and Juliet.

Jack scowled … at himself. He didn't know why he just lashed out at her - or perhaps, deep down, he did. He was frustrated. They had spent many hours alone together recently and every time he tried to go _there_ and get something _real _from her… it was met with the same result, she would tense up and shut him out. But then, every so often she would hint or drop some crucial piece of information about herself and the cycle would repeat itself, with him wanting more and her pushing away. With a sigh of frustration, he ran his fingers over his cropped hair. He turned his focus back to sweeping the road.

The three women walked abreast and Juliet smiled at Claire, "You're a far cry from Australia."

Claire bit her bottom lip, "Yeah, you can say that." Kate then asked, "Yeah. How did you end up here, Claire?"

With a tight, bitter laugh, Claire snorted, "I was studying abroad my senior year as a foreign exchange student at American University. _I fell in love with a nice, rich boy." _Kate and Juliet could detect the dripping sarcasm in her last sentence.

She continued, "I got pregnant, he said he loved me and would marry me. Well, as you can see Thomas, that's his name, changed his mind. I had decided to give my son up for adoption to a wealthy family in Atlanta. I was on a bus on my way down there when the crisis struck."

Kate shook her head and didn't know what to say. Juliet broke the lull, "I'm so sorry Claire. You must have been so terrified."

Aaron gurgled a bit and Claire stroked his cheek. She then kissed the top of his head to help settle him down, "A few fellow passengers on the bus looked out after me. But as the days passed and the situation grew more dire, they left me in the middle of the night. I could tell that they were nervous around me. Afraid that I would go into labor any moment and endanger them. I guess it was easier to just leave me. And then Sawyer and Daryl found me and I think you can figure out the rest."

Sawyer stopped and kneeled down to rummage through an abandoned hiker's backpack, "Whoo! Well look what I found here." They all stopped to allow him to investigate the contents. There wasn't much, except a map of the local area. The document was large and a bit unwieldy, but it could come in handy. Sawyer checked out the condition of the pack and decided it was better than the one he was carrying, so he began to move the contents from his pack to this bigger one.

They continued to hike along the road but stopped at the point right before it ran uphill to the bend. Rick signaled to Jack. The two moved to the side of the road and walked up along an embankment and crouched there. They grabbed their binoculars and looked into them.

"Shit!" Rick exhaled.

Ahead on the deserted road was a cluster of abandoned and overturned vehicles that blocked the road for at least half a mile. They could see some movement and that is when they spotted a few of them staggering in ones and twos between the cars.

Jack's expression dropped in disappointment. He knew what this meant, they would need to make camp for the night. They surveyed the scene a little longer before they jogged back to the others.

Daryl was the first to figure out the problem, "Judging by the looks on your faces, it looks like we'll be taking a detour and going on the scenic route."

Nodding his head in agreement, Rick told them, "Yep. The road is blocked ahead. There are Walkers too. It's about 6:00 now, we should probably start looking for somewhere safe to camp and then head out at first light."

"I was checking out this map and it looks like there is a major hiking trail running parallel to this road for a couple of miles before crossing over it." Jack and Rick walked over to Sawyer who had the map open in front of him. They both looked over his shoulder and began to read it.

Jack pointed to some markings on the wrinkled paper, "Do you see those? They're designations for lean-tos and the other ones look like park ranger cabins. They're not too far away. If we're lucky and they're not overrun, I think we may have found some shelter for the night."

Jack looked over to Daryl who was standing nearby, hoping to get his approval. Daryl lifted his crossbow to signal that he agreed. Rick then looked to the others, "So what do you say ladies - and Les? Are you okay with this?"

They all nodded in agreement.

They hiked almost an hour before finding the small cabin that rested on a large open clearing, free of nearby trees. It was, surprisingly, in undisturbed condition. With the exception of stumbling over a couple of corpses and animal carcasses en route, the surrounding area appeared reasonably safe as well.

The cabin held one large room with a kitchenette and a door to an attached bathroom.

Sawyer beelined to the refrigerator, which, strangely, happened to be running. He let out a shout of satisfaction as he ripped out a six-pack of beer, "Bottom's up boys. Looks like our hotel room has a mini bar." At that, a small laugh slipped from Jack's lips.

Rick carefully walked over to the bathroom and switched on the light. He checked the faucets and ran the water. It ran brown at first, but soon cleared up.

He walked back into the room and announced that the bathroom was functional. Jack then went outside and took a walk around the cabin and that is when he noticed the solar panels located in the back.

Jack re-entered, "I think we found our camp for tonight." He scanned the room and then looked at Claire, "You and the baby can take the bed in the corner." The four men then discussed breaking the evening into shifts of two, so that there would always be two on watch throughout the night.

Arzt, who had been quiet for a while spoke up and volunteered to go on watch, Rick reluctantly agreed. Each of them had showered and there was some pasta in one of the cabinets that they were able to boil and eat. For the first time in weeks, there was an air of subtle contentment amongst them.

The cabin was mostly dark when he and Sawyer came in from their shift. The curtains were drawn and two small lamps were lit. The room was silent but for the steady breathing emanating from everyone. Juliet and Rick were sleeping comfortably side by side on the sofa, his arm wrapped tightly around her waist. Jack regretted that he would have to wake him up now for the next shift.

Apprehensively, he watched Kate's lit face across the small lantern that was placed beside her on the floor. She was leaning against the far wall and had her left hand across her knees where she'd drawn them up. He was surprised to see that she wasn't asleep like the others. He decided to brave it and venture towards her.

"Hey." He whispered before taking the spot next to her

Suspiciously, she eyed him. "Hey."

"What are you doing up, Kate?"

"I couldn't sleep."

Jack reached for his holster and lifted out his Beretta and tried to hand it to her, "I have a present for you, '_Annie'._" He wore a hopeful grin, that his mild attempt at humor and extension of the proverbial olive branch would be well received. But judging by her glowering look that showed no hint of amusement, he realized he failed royally. She was clearly not in the mood. _Yeah, he decided, he'll leave the nickname calling to Sawyer._

"Okaaaaay then…" He sucked in a tight and nervous breath.

Kate looked solemnly at him before switching her gaze. She then let out a heavy, dull sigh before she started, "I learned to shoot after I met Brian. He's a gun enthusiast and introduced me to the firing range. I was reluctant to try it at first, but interestingly enough, I ended up enjoying the marksmanship aspect of it. It was a great way for me to focus and just forget things. After I married him, I had to give up my career in finance, I lost touch with my old friends. So, I had plenty of time on my hands, and I started going to the range about five days a week. I got pretty good at it." As she spoke in a steady voice, devoid of emotion, she stared straight ahead in a trance-like state.

Jack nodded, "I see." He didn't want to break the spell, he silently urged her to continue. Jack gave her an expectant look as he finally asked her, "How did you meet him?"

"My father introduced me actually, they had met through some mutual business acquaintance. Brian immediately had expressed a romantic interest in me, but I wasn't interested. My father encouraged it though, despite our age difference. Brian had been the CEO of one of the world's most recognized pharmaceutical companies. I'm sure you've heard of it, BEXEL Corp. It is virtually the exclusive supplier of vaccinations and medicine to the U.S. military."

Jack was all too familiar with the name, while he was in active service with the SEALs, he had been pumped with enough of their drugs to knock over an elephant.

"Anyway, my dad knew he was a rising star, he was a junior Senator but everyone knew he had his sights set on a bigger prize. Well, my mom and dad were very impressed with him, his ambition and so they applied some pressure on me. Although, to be fair, it didn't take much to break me, Jack." She turned to look to at him then and she let out a small self-effacing laugh, "Let's just say, before I met him, I was pretty unlucky in the love department. My heart had been shattered and I'd been serially cheated on by the only man I'd been with before Brian. So by the time Brian came around, I figured it was probably easier to just marry someone that you didn't care enough about to get hurt by."

Ordinarily, Kate would be put off by his prying, but for some reason, tonight she wasn't. Instead she sadly stared into the darkness and allowed him to take in everything she shared with him.

Trying to draw her attention back, Jack started, "Kate, it doesn't have to be this way, you know. You don't have to be with him."

Slowly she turned to face him, "Jack, there is something I need to tell you. Just before the crisis began, I was-"

Daryl walked in, "Jack can you cover me for a few minutes? I gotta use the little boys room." Unhappy with the interruption, Jack's jaw stiffened. Kate merely stared at him as he reluctantly stood up to head outside. He gave Kate a fleeting glance before exiting.

Only a few minutes passed before he returned, but Kate had already fallen asleep on the floor, her head resting on her backpack. He grabbed a sleeping mat and his pack as he walked towards her. He crouched beside her and took in her appearance. She rolled her head slightly and he saw the distinct fabric imprint on the skin of her delicate freckled cheek. The sight of her made his heart melt suddenly. He gently laid his hand on her shoulder, and softly, let it travel down the curve of her bare arm. He let out a strange sigh as he placed the backpack near Kate's and laid his head next to hers, such that their bodies now formed a letter 'L'.

"Good night, Kate."

**Author's Note:**

**Hi everyone. Thank you SO much for the kind reviews and words of encouragement. I can't tell you how much they inspire me. They really make me want to write and submit the next chapter. Again thank you!**


	10. Chapter 10

The indistinct greys of predawn light snaked its way through the small gaps of the curtains in the cabin and a tiny beam landed on her face. Now slightly awake, Kate could feel that her back was sore, despite the cushion Jack gave her to sleep on. Her eyes were heavy with sleep and when she was finally able to lift her lids, she had to pull her head back in a small gesture of surprise. Jack's face was inches away from hers. Groggily, she pushed up on her elbows and then shifted her weight so she was leaning only on her right arm. He seemed relaxed, his jaw was slack and his eyebrows weren't furrowed with worry, for once. He looked so boyishly handsome. And that made her smile. Jack had one arm lazily slung across his chest and the other laid flat at his side. To get a better view, she sat up, rested on her calves and slowly began to scan her eyes over him - from head to toe.

When it came to men, it didn't occur to Kate that she may have a certain type. But seeing Jack, all six feet, two inches of him, sleeping before her… she most definitely had a type. Her fingers itched to touch his stubbly cheek and then run them down to rest on his hard chest. Her eyes traveled lower… and, yes, they rested on that specific area of masculinity below the waist. And she did notice that a certain part of him appeared to be awake, while the rest of him still slept. A trail of heat traveled furiously all over her body before finally concentrating between her legs. She couldn't remember the last time a man made her feel this way. She had been faking with Brian for so long now. _Jack was right, she has been playing the role of the 'senator's perfect wife'. _

Pitifully, she had also forgotten how it feels for a man to rouse desire within her, until meeting _him_. She bit her bottom lip in frustration. She wanted to be alone with him, she wished that everything wasn't going to hell, that way she wouldn't feel so guilty about just wanting to get laid. Jack was pushing something open in her, and now she felt a hunger for him.

She shook her head at the absurdity of her emotions. The world was literally being torn apart at the seams, yet her libido was front and center at this very moment. They were surrounded by death, but part of her felt more alive now than ever before.

Jack also made her feel safe, safe in a way her father, or rather step-father, Wayne and mother Diane never did. Brian never offered her any comfort other than the fact that she knew he was incapable of breaking her heart. So perhaps he did offer that sense of safety, but that was quickly overshadowed by his controlling nature and need to own her. _She made a grave and terrible mistake in agreeing to marry him. _And now she remembered all the personal things she shared with Jack last night. It was unintentional and, to be honest, she felt a tinge of regret. She hated that she was capable of pouring out such intimate details of her life to a man that she met only a month ago. But he had this manner about about him, it was as if his soft brown eyes could see right through her.

And then there were those moments where she thought he may feel something for her beyond an apparent sense of responsibility. But he was hard to read sometimes. She noticed that he looked after everyone. He had checked on little Aaron a few times during the course of the evening and then he changed a bandage dressing on Daryl's arm. But then, he came and slept next to her. She shook her head in confusion.

"Oh Jack." She sighed out loud without thinking. Gratefully, her voice didn't stir him, his body evidently exhausted from the previous day's journey. With little self-restraint, she then carefully brushed his cheek with the back of her hand. She reluctantly pulled it away and stood up to walk to the bathroom.

She looked into the bathroom mirror above the sink. The fluorescent light overhead wasn't very flattering. She noticed the sunburn on her cheeks, nose and forehead and she frowned. She splashed some cool water on her face and brushed her teeth. She gathered her heavy curls and tied them away from her face into a ponytail. She thought about taking a quick shower, but changed her mind.

Stirred awake by the sounds of the others in the cabin, Jack woke up. He looked over to his side and was disappointed to see the empty patch of floor. He roughly massaged his eyelids as he recalled their talk from the previous evening. Most of all, he regretted Daryl's interruption just as Kate seemed to be warming up to the conversation. He felt a presence above him and then saw her small feet planted near him. Promptly, she took a seat beside him, "Hey there."

"Hey."

A smile twisted her lips, "Should I call you sleepy head? I can't believe you 'overslept'." She derived a small pleasure in teasing him.

Rubbing the nape of his neck, he smiled back and decided to play along with her, "Well, someone kept me up all night with her snoring." She detected a slight wolfish grin on his face.

"I _do not_ snore." _  
_

"And then you started talking in your sleep…" Amusement played on his face.

Kate swatted his shoulder playfully then, "Now I know you're pulling my leg."

Still grinning, he asked "_Am I_?"

Sawyer stood above them, "Okay Romeo and Juliet, if the two of you are done verbally copulating over there. I think it's time we check out of this five-star accommodation." Jack rolled his eyes in Sawyer's direction and stood up. He then offered his hand to Kate to help her stand. As he hoisted her up, he smiled and perhaps let her hand linger in his. "You heard the man, it's time for us to head out."

With a purposeful gait, Rick marched into the cabin, "Has anyone seen Arzt?"

Everyone inside started looking around and Daryl asked, "Wasn't he outside with you and me during the last shift?"

"That's what I thought too, he was supposed to be covering the back of the cabin." Rick raked his hands across his scalp in worry. "I gotta go out and look for him."

Juliet chimed in, "We'll all go and look for him, Rick."

"No. It was _my_ call to let him get onto our copter. He's my responsibility."

Jack finished packing his belongings and approached Rick, "I'll go with you."

"No, man. You need to take the ladies and the baby to the camp. I'll meet up with you, once I find him."

Angrily, Juliet stalked towards him, "You are most certainly not going by yourself, Rick. That's insane." Fear was dripping from her voice.

He ran his hand through his dirty blond locks and couldn't believe he was going to volunteer, but Sawyer quickly chimed in, "I'll help you find the little weirdo."

A flash of relief ran across Rick's face… and on Juliet's.

"Okay that's settled then. Listen, since it's just Sawyer and me and, hopefully Arzt, we should be able to catch up with you on the trail." The two men then quickly gathered their belongings and artillery. Sawyer walked up to Claire and gave her a small hug and softly caressed the top of Aaron's head. "See you soon, little Mama. You too, buddy."

Juliet's eyes were watery and her mouth trembled. Yet, she understood why he was going out to look for him. She knew what made Rick the man he was. Rick embraced Juliet and planted a deep kiss on her lips. Everyone in the room looked away, allowing them their moment of privacy. Jack and Kate caught each other's glances.

* * *

Jack cleared his throat as he studied the map, "If we head out this way, we'll be able to catch up with the main trail and then we should have almost a straight shot to the camp. But then again, you never know…." He then looked to Claire, "It's a short distance to the trail, but it will be a little uneven and hilly. Do you think you can make it while carrying Aaron?"

"Jack, I'm _so_ getting used to this. I'll be able to do it." Jack smiled back, "Good."

He then looked at Kate, who stood there with her eyes fixed on him. Caught in his impenetrable gaze, she tilted her head to the side and cast her eyes downward. A lump formed momentarily in his throat.

"Okay, let's hit it."

They were standing beside a thicket of saplings, and Jack pushed his way into their midst, holding two trees aside so they could climb in after him.

Jack led the way, mashing through dry leaves until reaching the edge of a creek, where shallow water surrounded large grey colored rocks. They had been trekking for a half hour and were close to the trail. Kate looked at Claire, "Can I carry him for a little while, you must be exhausted." Claire shot her a grateful look before nodding, "He's asleep right now and it takes a lot to stir him."

Kate brushed the dirt from her hands before lifting him out of Claire's grasp and settling him across her chest. The feel of Aaron in her arms sent a gentle surge of delight through her. They were all breathing heavily. Despite the early hour, it was humid and the terrain was a little more rough than the map alluded to.

Daryl looked to Jack, "Why don't we rest a sec, get some water and head out again." Jack looked at Juliet and he could read the worry in her face. "Juliet, Rick is fine. If there is anyone that could make it out here, it's him. He has saved my sorry ass, more times than you can count."

Juliet looked at her best friend and gave him a foreboding look, "Shut up, Jack."

They all filled up their water bottles and Jack dropped in some iodine purification tablets, "Just wait about twenty minutes to allow the chemicals to treat the water before drinking. I want us to be careful about virus contamination."

Jack walked over to Kate, who was busy whispering something to Aaron and gently bouncing him in her arms. _Was she humming a lullaby?_ Their image caught him off guard and warmed his heart in an unexpected way. "Hey Kate. How are you holding up?" He whispered in the presence of the sleeping infant. Kate looked up at him, "I'm good. He reminds me of my nephew, Owen." Her smile dipped then and Jack felt a punch to the gut. _Why didn't he just let her text them that day? _He carefully rubbed her shoulder and Kate didn't need to hear an apology, his sullen expression said it all.

Yet, he bent over and let his lips brush her ear, "I'm _so_ sorry, Kate." The feel of him forced her to close her eyes and shiver ever so slightly.

* * *

Rick and Sawyer were covering ground quickly. Rick was running at full steam through the brush while Sawyer was trailing behind and finally had to beg him to slow down. Rick stopped and looked over at his partner. Rick was breathing shallowly as well while trying to take his bearings in the forest.

"Let's slow down, Hoss." Sawyer recognized a dogged expression in Rick's face and reminded him, "We're not going to be of use if we're out of gas. If he's okay, we're going to find him." Rick looked pained and angry with himself.

"I didn't look out after him."

"Huh?"

"I didn't keep an eye out for Arzt. And to make matters worse, I was a total dick to him. And now he's probably dead."

Sawyer looked at him, almost feeling that pain, he knew the feeling of having responsibility over another human being. "Listen, Arzt wandered away from the cabin. I don't know why he'd do that. But apparently did. We were all safe there, you did the right thing. I can't understand why this happened. But it ain't your fault."

The two of them walked at a brisk pace, carefully eyeing the surrounding woods and looking for any signs of Arzt.

"So you and the Doc are Navy SEALS, huh?"

Rick looked over his shoulder in Sawyer's direction. And for some reason, he wanted to engage in small talk. Maybe he even _needed_ to. "Were. We _were_ SEALs. Up until the shit hit the fan, I was a stockbroker, if you can believe that."

"Yeah? Well. I think I can see that. Stockbrokers are risk takers too. Aren't they?"

Rick laughed at that, "Jeez. Hell yeah. Makes me wonder how my wife puts up with me. Juliet is about the most risk adverse person you can meet. I'd die without Juliet. I really don't deserve her." He shook his head in wonderment.

"You know, Jack set me up with her. They were going to med school together. She had a giant crush on him. Juliet thinks I don't know that, though. Anyway, I came up to visit Jack just after I finished my service and was interviewing for jobs. He told me to meet up with him at a bar uptown and there he was sitting next to the most gorgeous blond I ever set eyes on. She was flirting with Jack, but I could tell what he was doing. After an hour, he left us alone. We spent the rest of the night together. She took me home and gave me the best night of my entire life. And it wasn't as if I didn't have enough experience to compare her to and, trust me, no one else could come close to her." Rick stopped walking a second, he smiled and shook his head, his mind obviously recalling a pleasant memory. "I knew it _that_ night. I knew I was in love and I was going to marry that woman."

"Let me tell you something else, Sawyer. Juliet made me work for it though. I had to chase her like you would not believe. That brilliant, beautiful woman made me earn her love, that's for sure. Also, if you ever tell Juliet that I told you any of this, I'll have to kill ya."

Sawyer chuckled at the last part.

Sawyer's heart warmed slightly. He knew what love felt like. And he was resigned to the fact that he would never feel it again. Rick hesitated and wasn't sure whether he should bring it up, but he decided to venture anyway. Rick looked again at the wedding band on Sawyer's ring finger. "Where's your wife, Sawyer?"

Sawyer stopped mid-step ready to ask Rick why he presumed that he was married and then he saw the evidence glistening on his left hand. "I lost her. Five days into this crisis. Cassidy… and my little girl too. I had to… they were infected… I had to."

He continued, "She was my college sweetheart. I met her during my senior year at University of Georgia. She was a nursing student…." Sawyer trailed off.

Rick's stomach twisted. He felt for this man. "I'm sorry James."

Sawyer bitterly swatted at a branch that brushed his shoulder, "Me too."

An hour into their search, they could still not find a trace of Arzt. Guilt began to consume Rick. Why did he agree to let him to do the watch? He had no business being out there, but at the same time he didn't want to deny Arzt the ability to contribute. He didn't want to insult his sense of masculinity.

"So what kind of action did you and the Doc see on the ground? You know, when you were SEALs?"

Rick was distracted, but heard the question. They weren't supposed to discuss their missions. They were classified. But did it really matter at this point?

"Jack and I were on a few combat deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq. But there was this one mission that I either can't forget or try not to remember. It was in Tunisia. Some bio-chemical agent had been stolen by a terrorist cell. Even though we were all suited up in contamination hazmat gear and juiced up with anti-biotics, the whole operation seemed fucked up from the get go. We were only given the coordinates moments before we were under mortar attack from enemy combatants hiding out in some caves. Our order was to extract all hard drives and possible intel regarding the use of the bio terror agent. Any actual chemicals were to be destroyed on site. With the help of the team Sniper, Jack and I manage to unfuck ourselves from the mortar attack and make it over to the target. Eventually, Jack, me and the guys on SEAL Team 3 manage to get into the lab. It was crazy, there is this bare bones lab in the middle of a dustbowl that is holding a deadly agent of catastrophic proportions. It's hard to wrap your head around it. So we get what we need, take photos and we're on our way to radio in the B-52s to nuke the site-"

Rick was breathing heavy now as he was simultaneously talking and hiking. The humidity setting in hard.

"But that is when Jack and I stumble upon some infirmary, if you can call it that. Turns out, the scientists were actually experimenting on local civilians. Dozens of these poor people were chained to beds, in horrible agony. Some of them looked like their flesh was disintegrating from acid or something. Jack, being Jack ran over to one these poor bastards and tried to help him. I had to literally drag him out of there. They were contaminated, there was nothing we could do to help them. So we are finally in safe distance and I call the order in to blow up the site. That was Jack's last special ops assignment. He served his tour and went on to med school. He never cared for the rush of the missions like I did. So I stuck around for a few more years, getting my fix. But this time, my old friend Shane had my back. He's crazy, but he saved my ass more than I care to admit. And well Juliet has had to deal with a lot fallout. She calls it post-traumatic stress - whatever."

Sawyer raised his brows with eyes wide open and looked at Rick, "Okey- dokey. That sounds like a tea party."

In response to his comment, Rick let out a mirthless laugh. Rick stopped and kicked at a small rock in frustration. "We've been looking for almost three hours. Where the hell did he go?"

Sawyer's shoulders dropped in acknowledgement of their defeat, "Listen, there's not much we can do now. Why don't we head back to the cabin, leave our copy of the map with a note explaining how to get to the camp. Maybe he went back or will go back for his stuff. I charged up my cell phone last night, so I can take photos of the map for our use."

Reluctantly, Rick agreed.

* * *

Jack and Daryl were ducking in a ravine. Jack squinted into his binoculars and looked up the road and down. He noticed that the portion of the trail that crossed southward over the road was impassable because of Walkers.

"So Daryl, what was Plan B again?" He lowered the binoculars from his face and handed them over to Daryl, who placed them over his eyes.

"Shit. Okay, we got to backtrack about another hour and take the other trail at that fork. That should get us to the compound, it's just not a straight shot, but it should get us there."

Jack and the others finally made it back to the secondary trail. They tied a marker to the tree at the fork and left a note for Rick and Sawyer. It was more muddy and slippery than the other one, seemingly caused by the runoff from a nearby stream. Their steps made gentle sloshing sounds and they were forced to take it slow because of the baby. A sticky haze of humidity clung onto their bodies, but they plotted on nonetheless. Juliet was now carrying Aaron and held him close against her, despite how sweaty she was. Kate spotted the bones of a dead animal sprawled in a nearby ditch and couldn't help but wonder if that is how she would ultimately end up.

Jack stopped mid-step, "Did you hear that?" They all stood still and after a couple of seconds they could hear the rustling in the distance. Jack gestured for all of them to move off the trail, they scrambled up a bank and hid behind a dense patch of trees… and they waited.

They must have all simultaneously let out a sigh of relief when they saw Rick and Sawyer on the trail below. The two men immediately stopped and aimed their guns in their direction.

Daryl shouted, "Don't shoot, it's us!"

Sawyer shouted, "We almost shot you, goddamn it! What the hell are you all doing up there?"

Claire replied, "Hiding from you! We thought you were Walkers."

Juliet nearly toppled Rick over as she pounced on him. They shared a deep hug and when they drew apart, she could see his jaw tighten. "You didn't find Arzt." She stated flatly, reading his disappointment and frustration.

Jack winced at hearing the news and threw an apologetic look at Rick.

"Let's roll." Rick told them.

* * *

They finally saw the camp up ahead, it was a straight shot to the entrance, except it was fortified by a high brick wall, outer chain link fences, stacks of sandbags with sharpened wood spears jutting out from them. And then there was the issue of the scattering of Walkers.

"Son of a bitch." Sawyer looked at Rick, "Sundance, do you know the secret password to get us in there?"

Rick pulled a flare gun out out of his pack, "They're expecting us and Shane told me to signal our arrival with this. He also told us to be armed and ready to face Walkers. Are we _ready_?"

The flare went off and within seconds four Humvees emerged from the opened doors. They were racing towards the direction of the flare. Shots could be heard coming from the vehicles as they took down Walkers en route. The vehicles barely slowed down and soldiers' arms reached out to grab the eight of them and pull them into the heavy SUVs. During the brief ride Kate held Jack's gaze and offered a hopeful smile, she could finally breathe. A very bumpy minute later, they were within the confines of the compound.

Jack and Rick stepped out first and were quickly greeted by Shane.

"You made it you rascally bastard!" Shane pulled Rick into an embrace that literally lifted him off the ground.

To the right, he could see Jack standing with his hands resting on his hips, a small hesitant grin playing across his face. As Shane pulled away from Rick he moved towards Jack, who had his right hand held out to him. Shane gave him a huge smile, grabbed his hand before pulling him into a bear hug and patting him hard on the back. "Good to see you too Shep."

The three exchanged a few words as the others emerged from the vehicles.

Shane grew noticeably quiet and appeared distracted all of the sudden. That is when Jack saw Shane stare over his shoulder in the direction of an unassuming Kate. Jack felt his jaw clench and he frowned at the rakish way Shane's eyes traveled very slowly over her.

**Author's note:**

**As always, thanks for the reviews guys. I guess a lot people like Jack as a Navy SEAL. I, personally, envision a Season 1 Jack with his cropped shorn hair ;)**

**Anyway, it's always been my intention that I would up the rating to "M" for this story. I'd love to get some feedback from the readers about how they would feel about that. **


	11. Chapter 11

Jack immediately recognized Shane's look as sexual attraction. And a hot stab of jealousy caught him off guard. Almost as if it were a new emotion, or least something he hadn't experienced in a very long time. It bothered him that Shane ogled Kate, although as gorgeous as she was, he should expect it. Especially from Shane who, ever since he knew him, always sought out women, almost as if he was on a never-ending holy quest.

Jack then carefully eyed Kate who was busy chatting with Daryl. She was still wearing that tight black tank top, the same one that he so appreciated only yesterday. He didn't appreciate it as much now, seeing as Shane looked like he already mentally stripped it off her body. Jack also noticed how she gave an unconscious flirtatious toss of her hair. She had her thumbs hooked under each shoulder strap of her pack and looked at Jack while biting her bottom lip and smiling. He couldn't help but grin back in her direction.

Kate didn't register that Shane's dark eyes were full of desire and her obvious focus on Jack only fired Shane's interest in her more.

Shane looked at Jack and then Rick, "I thought you said that there were only a few of you. Who are the two guys, cute blond and the baby?"

Seizing on Shane's apparent drift in concentration, Jack was quick to respond. "That's Daryl, Sawyer, Claire and little Aaron. We stumbled across them yesterday on our way over here-"

Clearly disinterested now, Shane resumed his attention on Kate, not taking his eyes off the curves and hollows of her frame. "And who's _she?" _The inflection on the word 'she' making his meaning evident. Rick quickly caught on to his friend's motives and tried to deflect them, "That's Mrs.-"

Shane interrupted, "Please tell me her husband was eaten alive on your way over here." He laughed in apparent amusement at his own comment. The expressions worn by Jack and Rick indicated clearly that they were not amused. And Rick winced, quickly thinking about Arzt and his fate.

Shaking his head with slight incredulity, Rick continued, "Actually, we have no idea where Kate's husband is. He is the U.S. Senator of Georgia and he left her in our care -"

"Well, looks like the senator is now shit out of luck. Cause you know what they say? Possession is nine-tenths the law. Excuse me boys, time for me to be polite and introduce myself to … _Kate_."

Jack couldn't believe this guy, or actually he did. It was the same crap all over again. Rick looked disapprovingly at Shane, even though, to be fair, this time he was not aware of the burgeoning feelings between Jack and Kate. Yet, Shane always seemed to have an uncanny ability to hone in on the women who were interested in Jack. Since their days in college, on countless occasions, especially at a bar, a pretty girl would flirt with Jack, but Shane would make sure to butt in and close the deal himself. And Jack was smart enough to never mention if he had an eye on a specific person, because that was as good as an invitation for Shane to pursue her. Rick loved his friend, but he disapproved of Shane's apparent sense of envy and competition with their friend.

Engaged in her conversation with Daryl, Kate felt Shane approach her. "Howdy. My name's Shane." He wore a cocky sort of smile as he stopped in front of them.

Shane extended his hand to Daryl and then Kate, allowing himself to hold onto hers long enough and giving it a slight pressure that forced her to uncomfortably pull her hand away. As if on cue, Juliet sidled up next to Kate.

Eyes widened in surprise, Shane opened his arms and reached out to give Juliet a hearty embrace, "Jules! Hey sweetheart. Good to see you again."

With a slight smirk, Juliet returned his hug,"Nice to see you too, Shane."

Shane looked over at Rick, "I swear man, Juliet gets better looking every time I see her. You lucky bastard."

Something was eating at Jack, Kate was almost certain of it. She saw it in the way he tightly smiled at Shane and by his posture and stance. As if pulled by a magnet, she walked up to Jack and she could see his facial expression gradually soften and relax as she approached him. She stopped about a foot away, stood squarely before him, before looking straight up at his face.

"So. We're finally here." She started.

"Yeah, it looks that way, huh." His voice sounded slightly hoarse. And then it was followed by a rich chuckle.

"Do you think we're going to be okay now?" He saw her nervously chew on the inside of her cheek.

Gently, he touched her upper arm and gave it a few strokes. He nodded, and then nodded again, this time more assuredly, to convince and comfort her, "Yeah Kate, we're gonna be okay."

Shane then addressed all of them, "So I guess we should get you all situated now. Are you ready for the grand tour?"

There was plenty of bustling around, soldiers were moving quickly from one place to the next, giving the appearance that they were busy attending to all sorts of urgent matters.

"So here's the deal. The upside is that this installation is located in a remote, sparsely populated area and was primarily used for training. So we have been able to control the Walker population. The downside is, the camp ain't very large in terms of housing and amenities. We think in a matter of months, it'll be overpopulated and... we don't have a Pizza Hut here either."

Shane started walking and they followed. "The camp is about two square miles, but about half the space was used for training grounds, helipads and storage facilities. We're limited on individual housing and all the houses and apartments are already occupied by families of officers and 'VIPs'. So that leaves barracks, where you bunk up with about 5 people per room and then there are tents. The upside with the tents is that each of you would get your own, so you don't need to live with strangers. We're in the process of building more infrastructure and we should be moving everyone from tents to indoors by the fall season. Rick and Jack, we do have some trailers available that we reserved for officers, that's what I'm staying in if you guys are interested."

Juliet gave Rick a curious glance and raised her brows at him, trying to see his response to Shane's suggestion. She gently rubbed her fingers on his muscular forearm before gently wrapping them around it.

Sawyer was the first to ask a question, "So how many refugees you got here right now?"

"Well, there are about a thousand military servicemen and three thousand civilians. But the number is growing every week. We have to do a census soon and start some work assignments. For most of the past month, we were getting supply drops from the army, but we haven't received anything over the past week. At our current numbers, we have about enough food to last until early next year, but we need to start doing our own supply runs soon."

They had been walking about ten minutes when they approached the officer housing that Shane was referring to. It looked like a small trailer park, with rows of identical standard white trailers.

Jack, Rick and Juliet looked over at the approximately hundred or so tightly packed trailers. Jack asked, "So Shane, where are the tents and barracks in proximity to the trailers?"

"Oh, they are on the north side of the camp, a good fifteen minute walk or so." That disclosure made Jack's decision for him, he would stay in a tent, so he could be closer to Kate- and Sawyer, Daryl and Claire, _of course._

They passed numerous small and mid-sized buildings, including offices, latrines, mess halls and housing. There were a few small roads in use. The camp reminded Kate of a typical small town in the mid-west. Kate walked alongside Jack and kept looking up at his face trying to read his expression and reaction to their new home. On a few occasions, their arms or hands would bump against one another, a sensation that did not go unnoticed by either one of them. Shane kept turning his attention to Jack, usually making a light comment or inside joke.

After they checked out all their sleeping options, they all opted for the choice that offered the most privacy and proximity to one another. This meant they were going to sleep in tents. Because Jack and Rick were officers, they were provided with larger ones that were more like semi-permanent structures. The tents were pitched above a wooden platform and even included a wood burning stove that had a vent to the outside. They were also provided with cots, bedding, flashlights and lanterns. Kate's tent was much more basic and smaller. She had just enough clearance to stand up in it and about half of the space was taken up by the twin size cot. It took about thirty minutes for Kate to situate herself before she decided to take a little walk.

A few tents down, was Jack's. The flap to the vestibule was pulled aside, so she decided to see whether he was in there. She climbed the one step up the platform and stood at the opening.

"Knock-knock." She held up her balled fist in a mock gesture of rapping on a door. He turned around as he heard her voice and smiled.

"Hey. Come in."

"Oh. Wow. So, this is how the top 1% live?" Kate asked as she looked around at his dwelling. He let out a chuckle that was tinged with a hint of embarrassment. She continued to look around the space. One side of the tent held a small wood burning stove, two folding arm chairs and a round table. On the opposite side there was an alcove with a queen sized cot and mosquito netting that was drawn.

"So Jack, you don't have central air conditioning in here?" Kate teased him, playfully, and saw that he enjoyed it.

With his hands resting on his hips, he took in her cute smirk. "Stop it. I bet your tent is totally fine. But central air does sound good to me right now."

"I thought it was good until I saw yours." She walked over to his bed and examined it, "Are you kidding me? You actually have a mattress on this cot. I'm officially envious." He watched her flop on it and lay back with her eyes closed. "Mmmmmmmm. I don't think I ever want to get up. God, what I would do for my down pillow and comforter at this moment." He walked towards the bed and stood above her enjoying the view below him. She kept her eyes closed and drew a wide smile across her face. He almost told her that she could feel free to sleep on it anytime, but caught himself as the words almost left his lips. There was no way that such an offer would sound like anything other than a proposition. She then leaned up on her elbows and looked at him. She noticed his intense gaze and she blushed under the weight of it. She ducked her head to the side before standing up and then tried to shake the tension from her shoulders.

She cleared the hoarseness in her voice before she flatly told him, "Let me help you make your bed." She quickly grabbed at the linens and gestured for him to assist her. Together, they stretched the fitted sheet and pulled it over the corners of the mattress.

"Jack, what do we do now?" She asked, her tone low, deep and serious.

"What do you mean?" He answered, wrinkling a perplexed forehead, as he shook open the flat sheet. She reached out for the bottom corners and straightened the sheet at the foot of the bed.

"I mean, do we stay here and wait it out? How long do you think this crisis will last, Jack?" After he was done stuffing his pillow into its case, he looked at her. Her eyes bore a worried expression.

Jack looked at her reflectively before answering, "I have no idea, Kate. But I promise that you and the others will be safe."

Almost done, they added the final touch, a standard Army issue blanket. Jack rubbed the short, cropped hair on the top of his head as he thought of a way to break the sudden awkward silence.

"I'd invite you to my living room for a cup of coffee…"

Kate laughed at that, "Hey at least you have some seating. Don't take it for granted. I'm a little hungry though, do you want to grab something to eat?" She wore a slightly hopeful look on her face as she stood with her hands tucked in the back pockets of her jeans.

A smile flickered in her eyes and Jack was sucked in by it. The stress of the past month having taken its toll on him, he needed to smile and perhaps relax for a stretch that was longer than ten minutes.

"That's sounds like a plan, Kate. Lead the way." He gestured for her to step out and he let his gaze settle a moment on her backside before they were outside. As they stepped out, Sawyer approached, "Hey, you know where I could get some grub around here?"

* * *

Daryl walked toward Claire's tent carrying some supplies. Her eyes widened as he approached and she let out a happy squeal.

"How did you come across a baby bassinet?"

A little sheepishly, he answered, "Eh, I just took a ride to the local 'Babies 'r' Us'."

Her eyebrows rose in suspicion, but she decided to not ask questions and just appreciate the gesture.

He placed the blue basket-like bed inside and her eye caught sight that it was filled with some other items like diapers, baby wipes and onesies.

"Daryl! I can't thank you enough." She threw her arms around him and for a second she clung to him more closely. She felt his body stiffen slightly, so she decided to release him. Daryl's obvious discomfort betraying his lack of being accustomed to gestures of affection. There were times he actually flinched when he was touched unexpectedly. He was never able to have a relationship that lasted beyond a few months. They usually left him, thinking him to be too distant and cold.

"Well, seeing as you are all settled, I'll be heading out." He gave her a tight smile before turning around to leave.

* * *

That evening they sat in a circle enjoying the warm orange glow of the fire. It was a hot summer night and Kate's hair clung in damp ringlets to her temples and her neck. She sat next to Jack, watching him through her long eyelashes and she had caught him briefly staring at her. Despite the heat, Kate thought the darkness of this evening was somehow sultry, the warm air felt almost delicious on her bare arms.

"Damn, what I'd do for a shot of tequila right now." Sawyer whooped while bearing a dimpled grin. A shadow of a smile flickered on Jack's lips in response to Sawyer's outspoken wish. He actually agreed and for the first time, since the outbreak, he craved a drink, a real drink.

Their conversations were varied and the lulls would inevitably be broken by the sounds of slight coughs and clearing of throats.

With his arm draping lightly around Juliet's shoulder, Rick stared pensively at Daryl. He had this nagging feeling that he had met him before, he looked so familiar. He gave him one last inquiring glance before asking, "Okay Daryl. How do I know you?" He pointed his finger at him. Sawyer smiled while wearing a knowing look, meanwhile Daryl held a sort of embarrassed expression. Sawyer looked at Daryl, "Well are you gonna tell the man or what?"

In a voice with a sales pitchy affect, Daryl answered, "Are your wheels given' you a sharp pain in your wallet? Come get them fixed at Dixon Brothers Cycle and Auto Repair. Now with eight convenient locations." Daryl was quoting a commercial that featured him and his brother Merle. Daryl hated being in them, but Merle enjoyed the little bit of limelight and attention they offered him. The reference was lost on a few members of the group, but recognition slowly crept up Rick's face.

"You're one of the Dixon brothers? Yeah, I see it now. I knew your face looked familiar!" Rick looked at Juliet, Jack and Kate who had no idea what they were talking about. "Daryl and his brother are in these commercials. It's more of a Southern thing, I guess..."

Intrigued, Rick turned to Daryl, "I read about you guys. The two of you are like local legends. Two brothers from a broken home that make good."

"Yeah. Merle was the real talent behind the operations. He could fix anything and he had developed different techniques in repairing cars and motorbikes. Not only could he fix anything, but he could do it at lightening speed. I took some finance and accounting courses at a local junior college and that is how he we started the business from our home garage. And we just kept growing and the rest is history. Actually, Merle and I were on our way to a meeting to discuss plans about growing the company and taking it public right before all this shit broke out." He paused a moment before continuing, "Toughest asshole I ever met, my brother. Feed him a hammer, he'd crap out nails. Merle didn't go down without a fight. He must have taken out a dozen Walkers right before…."

They all sat in silence and each gave him a look that expressed their condolences. Claire gave Daryl a sidelong glance and there was a shadow of sadness on her face. Daryl saw it and then slightly turned from her, he didn't want her to read his sullen thoughts. His face grew heavy and he knew it was time for him to turn in. He had shared too much already. And he awkwardly stood up and shook out the uncomfortable feeling of his almost asleep legs.

"Good night folks. See you in the morning." Their eyes followed his form as he headed towards his tent.

They sat by the fire, until it had burned down into embers.

**Author's note: Thank you to everyone for leaving me such kind reviews. I CANNOT overstate how much they keep me inspired and motivated to keep writing. Without them, I would have likely given up on this. **

**SkateShipper, thank you for your compliments. I don't foresee myself writing a Skate story, but I am contemplating writing a sort of off-shoot of this story that will have a slightly darker version of Jack and I think I could write in Sawyer as a Navy SEAL. **


	12. Chapter 12

The faint traces of pink from the early morning light roused Juliet from her deep sleep. Her body reacted by shifting slightly and that seemed to stir Rick. He let out a low, content groan as he drew her closer to him. They had slept peacefully that evening, the first time in a month they were able to spend an entire uninterrupted night in the same bed. The very narrow bunks of the ship were just too small for them to share for an extended period of time. Rick's lips touched behind her ear and moved down to the side of her neck. One hand reached under her t-shirt to caress her breasts, and the other moved accurately between her thighs. He stopped at the most sensitive part and stroked her. She let out a low moan, it had been a while since they were together like this and she wanted him now. He impatiently tugged down her underwear to the tops of her thighs. Signaling her desire, Juliet pressed her back against his chest, letting him move against her and then in her.

Breathing heavily and, a little more than sweaty, they laid sated in one another's arms. Rick ran his fingers along her bare back absentmindedly while staring up at the pitch of their tent, "You know how much I love you, right?"

In her typical teasing way, she answered him. "You're just saying that because you got off." Her eyes lit up in amusement when he smirked at her. "Sorry Doctor. That's a line a guy uses _beforehand_. When he is aiming to get lucky." He then winked at her.

"Hmmmmm. Are you telling me that you actually mean it?" Rick knew she was joking, but he always had a little nagging feeling that she really did doubt the depth of his love for her. "Juliet, there are no words… I just… I love you. I love you." He rubbed the pad of his thumb along her high cheekbone.

Sensing that her playful jest may have gone too far, she cupped his face, "I know Rick. I know. And I love you too." And she meant those words. But then there were those rare moments she had her lingering doubts about his feelings for her.

More than once she felt he needed her more than he loved her, that they were simply the dedicated doctor and patient relationship - textbook co-dependency. She never doubted that Rick was a good man that was dedicated to her wholly. However, she wondered how many women in her situation would have stayed with him despite all his good qualities. How many wives would sacrifice their most fertile years and risk foregoing children? How many women would put up with their husbands disappearing days at a time to then get a call asking to be picked up at a hotel after going on some type of bender? There was never an issue of infidelity, but instead it was his heavy mood swings that were invariably jarred by some memory. She simply deduced that Rick had been exposed to some atrocity or extraordinary event while in combat. Jack was never able to offer any specific incident that may have affected him like this. She had also asked Shane too, but he refused to discuss it with her.

She pulled away from his embrace, the sticky heat becoming a bit uncomfortable. As consolation, she gave him a tender kiss before drawing away. The two them laid flat on their backs, holding hands, as they stared pensively above.

"I hope he makes a move soon."

"Huh?"

"Even though Kate's technically married, I think Jack should stop wasting time and go after her. It's obvious that they are falling for one another."

Rick was a little surprised by her words, that she would suggest or even encourage adultery was a bit unexpected, "Listen, I'm not saying I disagree with you or anything, but I never thought I'd hear you encourage Kate to cast aside her vows like that-"

"Her husband left her. You said it yourself. You would never have done that to me. And Kate doesn't love him. The world has changed, Rick. If Jack can find some happiness, I'm one hundred percent supportive of that. You and I know that no one deserves to be happy more than Jack."

Juliet drew a deep breath before adding, "And you need to tell Shane to back off-"

He laid still and didn't respond.

She saw right through him. She knew he was pretending not to hear what she said.

"Rick, don't play dumb, so you can protect Shane. You know what he's going to do. He's going to try to get in between them. Because he loves pretty girls, especially the ones that like Jack." She could hear her voice rise slightly.

"Juliet, what're you talking about? We haven't been here twenty-four hours and you're already all over me about Shane-"

Juliet pulled her hand out of his and got off the bed. She hastily yanked on a pair of underwear. "I swear Rick, there are moments I think you should've married _him_ instead."

"C'mon Juliet-" Rick groaned.

"Don't!" She admonished before she finished dressing and stepped out.

Kate was outside of her tent, sitting quietly and watching the beginnings of people stirring awake. In spite of her tiredness, she had woken up. Kate blamed her sleepless night on the uncomfortable heat and new surroundings. She had slept above her bedding, wearing a tank top and underwear, but that did little in the way of keeping away the sweat. She wanted a shower badly.

Juliet spotted Kate and approached her. Kate greeted her with a smile, which was quickly followed by an escaped half yawn. "God, what I'd do for a Starbucks coffee right now."

Juliet's eyes widened with humor, "You're not kidding. Seriously, there's not much I wouldn't trade for a cafe latte. What are the chances that there is some decent coffee in this place?"

"I guess we'll find out, huh?"

Juliet's expression sobered as she stared straight ahead. Noticing that there was something off with her, Kate asked, "Juliet, is everything okay?"

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"I dunno. You look a little ticked off." A teasing smile played on Kate's lips.

Chuckling at Kate's comment, Juliet admitted, "You know what? I'm a little pissed off at Rick. Husbands!" She huffed and then looked to Kate for some sisterly support of the whole "annoying husband" thing. Kate wasn't able to empathize, she never felt like Brian was a "real" husband, so she responded with a hollow hmmm-hmmm.

Pulling back her long wavy hair and fastening it into a low ponytail, Juliet started, "So you finally got to meet Shane."

"What?" The sudden change in topic caught her off guard, "Oh yeah. He doesn't seem _so_ bad, Juliet."

Shaking her head, Juliet gave a knowing look, "Oh, you just haven't had a taste of him yet. I promise you-"

"All right. Spill it. Give me some dirt on this guy already. What is it about him that you find so untrustworthy?"

"Where do I begin Kate? Okay, let's start with my wedding. Where he managed to sleep with two of my bridesmaid and set off a firestorm."

"He did _what_?" Kate had lowered her voice, almost conspiratorially.

"You heard me. And to make it worse, the three of us were attached at the hip in college and now Amanda and Caroline don't speak to one another because of him. He slept with Caroline the night of the rehearsal dinner and then Amanda some time during the dinner reception. And Amanda's boyfriend was there, so you could imagine what ensued. I'm only thankful that the brawl broke out at the end of the night. Jack had to check Shane into a different hotel to avoid any further confrontation with my friends and the boyfriend. I'm still not sure about the logistics and how Shane managed to pull it off, especially since he had also managed to get awfully drunk. Which was quite convenient for him as he pretended to not remember it afterwards." Juliet snorted after the last sentence.

Kate didn't blink as she listened. Despite the somewhat humorous tone of the story, there was a melancholy undercurrent in her voice.

"Jack was such a lifesaver. He really helped me keep it together. I thought I was going to strangle him with my bare hands that night. It was such a typical selfish Shane thing to do. It was his closest friend's wedding and he somehow managed to make the event about himself. You can imagine what all the buzz was about during breakfast at the hotel the next morning. If you ask Shane about it, he thinks it is sort of funny. He has no regard for the fact that two of my friends hate each other now and he nearly turned my wedding into some ridiculous spectacle."

"Okay, I agree that's pretty bad." They looked at each other, almost mischievously and grinned.

His ears must have been ringing, because they simultaneously turned their heads to see Shane moseying towards them. They quickly paved over their surprised expressions.

"Good mornin' ladies." Shane greeted cheerfully, his southern drawl particularly pronounced.

"Good morning Shane. What brings you to this side of town so early?" He fleetingly looked at Juliet and offered a warm smile before his eyes and attention settled on Kate.

"I'm a bearer of gifts." He kneeled down next to them and placed down a box that contained a large coffee thermos, a stack of paper cups, small container of powdered creamer and packets of sugar. "And it's the real good stuff, european coffee that we set aside for the officials here." He offered them each a cup which they accepted and he promptly began to pour the contents of the thermos."

The aroma hit the spot and despite Juliet's reserve, she let out an appreciative sigh after downing the first sip. "Mmmmm. That's delicious Shane. Thank you. You sure know how to wake up a girl."

Not able to let go of an easy retort, with a wicked grin he told her, "Juliet, I know plenty of better ways to wake up a pretty woman." His steely brown eyes deliberately fell on Kate and their lusty gaze forced her to look downward. She slid her palms nervously over the tops of her thighs. He found her apparent discomfort appealing and felt compelled to go further.

"And I know that Rick does too. Now Jack, he's a different story-" He drawled.

Juliet cleared her throat as she interrupted, "Okay, that's enough Shane, I'm sure Kate has no interest in hearing about my sex life." He looked at Kate then, "I love teasing Juliet - it's too easy. I bet she told you about how I ruined her wedding and all. Whatever she tells you, just know that I ain't such a bad guy." Nausea made Juliet roll her eyes then and Kate almost let out a sharp laugh in response. Shane didn't notice, he was too busy taking in Kate. He thought she was gorgeous and couldn't believe his luck that his buddies brought with them one of the most beautiful women he'd ever laid his eyes on. While she was busy thumbing the sides of her paper cup, he was preoccupied with her shapely and toned legs that were barely covered by the tiny shorts she had on. Her luscious lips were framed by a cascade of heavy golden brown curls and a perfect pixie nose. Shane was enthralled. He also could tell by her mannerisms that she was refined and lady-like, just like Juliet and …_Lori._ Kate was a prize and not someone that any man could have, that was apparent. His mind quickly imagined them together, sharing his trailer and ... so much more.

He looked at Kate, "Are you up for a personal tour of the camp?" His eyes went straight to her face again and lingered after his suggestion. Kate turned her head sideways before meeting his gaze, "Actually… Juliet and I were about to -"

Shane raised his hand to pre-empt her response, "Got it. Just promise me a raincheck Kate_._" She saw the pleading look in his eyes and nodded reluctantly, "Sure … a _raincheck_." She then idly looked about, and caught Jack's form emerging from his tent. He absentmindedly yawned and rubbed the top of his cropped head as he blindly looked about. Her heart skipped a beat in appreciation of him. His apparent disorientation with his surroundings was boyishly charming and then there was the fact that he was wearing a tight fitted undershirt and…boxer shorts. She studied his muscular legs for the first time and saw that they were nice right down to his sculpted calves… perfect, like the rest of him- to no surprise.

Jack caught sight of Kate then and gave her a gentle wave. She raised her hand and motioned him over. He gestured to her before ducking back into his tent to dress. A minute later he approached Kate and Juliet and... Shane, no longer obscured by the tent. Jack's brows furrowed into a slight frown, such that he missed the evident gleam Kate held in her eyes just for him.

In a friendly gesture, Shane beckoned Jack over, "Mornin' Jack. I can see that you still wake up a little on the surly side." Shane was jokingly referring to Jack's frown, making him realize then that he may have worn his mood too freely and decided to rein it in a bit. Jack smiled back at Shane and offered a friendly greeting in return.

"You want some coffee?"

Jack took the cup from Shane's extended hand, "I do actually. Thanks man."

"You still like it black with two sugars, right?"

"Yeah. Good memory Shane." Jack narrowed his eyes, in slight suspicion and curiosity, that he would remember such a small detail. And just as quickly, he shook it off.

Jack settled down next to Juliet and gave her a warm smile, "Did you sleep well last night?" She grinned back, "I did, it was nice sleeping next to Rick again. Speaking of, I wonder why he hasn't come out yet." She craned her neck to the direction of their tent. Jack then looked at Kate, "Hey. How about you?"

She smiled shyly at him, "Ummm. Not so much. It was just too hot. And I just couldn't stop thinking about stuff…." Jack rubbed the back of his head and nodded in understanding. She had been thinking about her sister and nephew. Shane looked at her again, and in tone dripping with concern, he told her "Kate, if there is anything you need to be more comfortable, just let me know and I'll see what I can work out for you."

Shane wasn't one for subtlety and his eagerness to please her, a virtual stranger, made her uncomfortable. The four of them grew quiet, but Juliet broke the silence, "Well Shane, since you so politely offered. Where can we get some toiletries? I certainly could use some shampoo, toothpaste and-"

"Do I smell some joe brewin' over there?"

They all looked up to see Sawyer casually striding towards them while simultaneously buttoning up the shirt over his smooth and tan muscular chest. His white smile was wide and warm, almost infectious. Kate and Juliet couldn't help smiling right back. Sawyer's obvious effect on the ladies did not go unnoticed by Shane or Jack. He plopped himself down and Juliet offered him a cup and the thermos.

He took a taste in one smooth gulp, "Ahhhh. That's some good stuff. All that's missing is the donuts." He grinned at Juliet, "I'm a cop remember? You know how us cops just love our donuts."

"Well Sawyer, you must have some metabolism, because you don't look like a cop that sits in a diner eating donuts." Sawyer chuckled at her comment and then pushed back the long bangs that fell into his eyes.

Juliet then observed, "You need a haircut."

In his typical sarcastic fashion, he retorted, "Well Blondie, I'll just head to the neighborhood barber and get that taken care of." Feeling a little restless, Kate lifted herself up and brushed off the dust on her backside.

Out of gentlemanly habit, Jack stood up as well. Her green eyes met his and sparkled teasingly at his polite gesture. Noticing that everyone seemed to be looking at her, she awkwardly announced, "I'm just going to change."

"No need for that, you look fine to me." Shane drawled as he gave her legs one final lingering appreciative glance. Ignoring his comment, Kate looked at Juliet, "So you still want to take that walk?" Juliet nodded and began to shift her position. Jack offered her a hand and helped pull her up.

Shane watched Kate dip into her tent, still grinning he looked at Jack, "Are you free? Thought I'd show you the medical station and introduce you to a few of the doctors and nurses. We need to put those surgical hands to good use."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Show me the way." He then looked at Sawyer, "See you later. You'll keep an eye on things, right?" Sawyer nodded, "Sure Doc."

They walked at a leisurely pace with Shane doing most of the talking, they were stopped a few times, usually by a civilian. Jack noticed that Shane seemed to be well-known and a resource of information for the camp.

Jack asked, "So where's the power coming from? This camp is obviously operated by an independent power grid."

"Yeah, this base was built in the sixties during the whole cold war thing. It was initially built as a small emergency operations center, but was converted into a training base. There's a larger, more modern facility in Maine that serves as the operations center. If the President's still alive, she'd be there. So to answer your question, there's an independent grid that's supposed to maintain power for up to three years. There're also some back up generators just in case. There's even an underground bunker."

"Are there enough engineers here to maintain the grid?" A detectable huff of irritation escaped Shane's lips. Jack still had that annoying habit of delving into all the minutiae, his control freak nature never allowing himself to trust anyone else to handle things.

"Yeah, we do Jack. I know it's hard for you to believe, but the military can run things without you."

_And here we go_, Jack thought. "That's not what I meant. I was just curious."

Not buying Jack's simple explanation, Shane laughed sharply, "Uh-huh." But the truth was, Shane didn't want to bicker with Jack. He actually considered him a friend and was happy to see him again after all this time. So he decided to lighten the mood, "Soooo. Jack. You hittin' that?"

Jack paused at the unexpected question and knew that he was referring to Kate. He felt a slight embarrassment cross his cheeks and then silently admonished himself for the feeling. It's not as if he wasn't accustomed to locker room talk. Over the years, he had heard it all, the most crude vulgarities that could escape from one's lips. Although, admittedly, he never felt comfortable engaging in that sort of banter, neither did Rick. The two of them were always on the sidelines in that regard.

"Wha-?"

"You _heard_ me, man."

"Kate's married Shane." Jack said matter-of-factly, doing his best to mask his actual feelings towards her.

"So I'm supposed to believe the answer's no then. As for her being 'married', that's bullshit. I don't see him around. She's been with you for over a month and you're trying to tell me that you haven't made some play. She's a hot and mighty fine looking girl."

They didn't break stride as they traversed through the growing crowd towards the medical station. Jack saw Shane's questions coming from a mile away, so he put forth his best poker face. He knew Shane well enough that if he gave too much of an indication of interest in Kate, the guy would pursue her relentlessly.

Jack let out a mirthless laugh, "Shane, if you haven't noticed, we're in the midst of a global crisis." Shane let out a howl, "Shep, it'll take a lot more than flesh eating zombies to stop me from wanting to get laid." He gave Jack a hard, but playful pat on his back. Jack shook his head at the hopelessness of Shane's one-track mind. And Jack was spot-on because at that moment, all Shane could think of was Kate Austen and how much he'd like to get her bedded down.

They finally reached the infirmary and Shane made some introductions. The head physician looked relieved to see Jack, "We're significantly understaffed Dr. Shephard. It is with much pleasure to meet you. My team has been working around the clock. Fortunately, there haven't been too many significant emergencies, but the sheer volume of minor medical ailments needing attention has kept us very busy."

"Well, I'm glad to help in any way I can Dr. Jenner. My good friend, Dr. Juliet Carlson is here as well. She's an OB/GYN and I know that she'd be more than willing to assist your team's efforts."

Jenner let out a heavy sigh of relief, "You have no idea, how glad I am to hear that. Is there any chance that you're free now to give a hand. Some of my staff have been here twenty hours straight."

"Of course, I just need to clean up first-"

"We have a locker room here. You can shower up and I'll get you some clean scrubs." Jenner told him eagerly. Jack nodded and just as he was about to say good bye to Shane, a soldier came running in.

He went straight to Shane, "Sir, your assistance is needed at the fourth quadrant." Shane looked at Jack, "Looks like I got a small fire to put out, but it seems like you'll have your hands busy too. See ya later."

* * *

Kate shared lunch the following day with Sawyer, Claire and Daryl. They sat together in one of the mess halls eating very mediocre food. Juliet was at the infirmary with Jack, and Rick was assisting Shane. She couldn't help but feel somewhat redundant and useless. She picked at the unappetizing meal with her fork.

Sawyer playfully pressed his shoulder against her side, "Hey Freckles, I know the Doc has been away, but you can't keep moping around. It's gives off bad energy for the rest of us." A furious blush came across her face and a little angrily she bit back at him, "I'm not _moping_ around, Sawyer. I'm frustrated, I just feel a little left out. It seems like everyone has a job to do and, well, I … don't. I want to pull my own weight."

Daryl gave a critical look to Sawyer, "Quit teasing her man. I can see her point. Just sitting around here is gonna get old pretty fast." Sawyer shot back a look of annoyance, "Call me crazy but I've just had a month of hell and if you busy little worker bees don't mind, I'm gonna kick up my feet and enjoy the resort for a bit. Cause sooner or later, this is all gonna end. So Freckles, listen to me, rest up cause you're gonna need a helluva lot of energy to fight off that guy Shane."

Fed up now, Kate stood from the table, "Sawyer, I'm not up for the wisecracks, okay?"

"Just calling em like I see em, Freckles."

She lifted her tray and left.

"Nice job, Sawyer." Daryl remarked.

"What? It's true. And if I were the Doc I'd keep a close eye on my _buddy." _

Claire piped in, "Still… you didn't have to keep pushing -"

Sawyer then stood up and looked at Aaron, "How about you Aaron? You wanna get on my case too?" Daryl and Claire then watched him stalk out of the dining area.

* * *

Kate looked for Jack both evenings, but he didn't return to their campsite. It wasn't until two days later that he approached her sitting alone, she appeared to be wearing a pensive expression. He stopped mid-step, wondering whether he should disturb her. She looked beautiful, her hair kept out of her face, held back by some type of headband. But it was too late, she turned her head in his direction and slowly drew a smile that reeled him in.

"Can I take a seat?"

"Of course." Kate watched him hunch down and maneuver his long legs as he settled himself next to her.

"You shaved." She observed out loud. A cute grin now clearly pasted on her face.

He let out a small laugh, "Yeah, I was getting sick of the scruff." He then touched the phantom stubble of his chin.

"You look tired." Her eyes softened with concern.

Letting out a deep sigh, he rubbed his hand behind his neck, "Yeah, I am a little. I spent two whole days at the infirmary. I wanted to relieve some the doctors and nurses that have been working around the clock since this all began."

"Ohhh. Are there that many sick people here?"

"Not many sick people per se. But a lot of little things. Fractured and broken bones, cuts and bruises, stomach bugs. Oh and there was a gunshot wound, that kept me in surgery for a while. We have only about twelve doctors and twenty five nurses. That's not enough medical staff for the size of the population here."

She nodded her head.

He looked at her tentatively then, not wanting to talk about himself anymore. He pinched the bridge of his nose as his shoulders slumped with exhaustion. He would be lying to himself if he didn't admit that the thought of taking a nap with her laying next to him wasn't in the forefront of his mind. They sat quietly, their shoulders brushing up against the other.

It probably wasn't the right moment to delve into this subject, but he was going to anyway.

"Kate, do you remember that night at the cabin?"

Kate stiffened then, she knew what he was going to ask. She had hoped that he'd forgotten or just decided to let the matter drop. But the more she got to know Jack, the more she realized that he was not the sort of man inclined to just 'let go' of things. She also knew that he wanted to discover more about her, that he enjoyed getting to know her and she quickly recalled the adorable bemused grin that crept across his face when she told him that she had won several martial arts titles. Part of her relished sharing such things with him and she took delight in knowing more about him as well. And she knew that she had opened pandora's box that day in the infirmary aboard the carrier. She was the one to volunteer personal information about herself, so it should be of no surprise that he became somewhat curious. But there was a part of her that fiercely clung to her privacy and that was the part of her that was winning out at this moment.

He studied her expression and he had a feeling she was going to try to avoid his question.

"Kate?" He asked softly.

She paused a beat.

"Ummm. What are you talking about?"

Her weak attempt at diversion irritated and insulted him slightly, "You know what I'm talking about Kate. You were about to tell me something just as Daryl came in and interrupted. What were you going to tell me?"

"Nothing Jack. It was _nothing_. _Really._" A flash of disappointment moved across his face as he brusquely told her, "I don't believe you."

"Why won't you tell me? What is it that you _now_ don't want to tell me?" He pushed.

She saw the pleading look in his brown eyes and part of her was about to acquiesce -

"Hi Kate. Hi Jack." Both of them looked up to see Shane standing above. He could tell that he was interrupting some deep conversation between them and Shane took some glee in knowing that. He also caught Jack's brief glowering look of irritation directed at him.

"So Kate, I thought I'd come to collect on that raincheck you owe me."

Kate looked back and forth between the men and could see that there was some growing tension.

Kate answered, "Shane, now is not a good time-" Jack stood up then, his demeanor clearly infused with anger. Kate jumped up as well and looked directly at him. Shane wore a smirk while taking a bit of enjoyment in pissing off his old rival.

"I was just leaving." Jack looked at the two of them and briefly wondered what this 'raincheck' was all about and how much interaction the two have had together. Jack saw the cocky grin on Shane's face and he wasn't in the mood for this high school bullshit, so he turned to leave.

And Kate's sad eyes followed him until he disappeared into his tent.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**Thanks again everyone for all the positive reviews! Because of them, I pushed myself to get this chapter out today! **


	13. Chapter 13

_It hurt._

Her chest hurt. She stood motionless staring in the direction where she saw him a moment ago. Why didn't she just tell him? Why was she pushing him away?

Kate then turned to look at Shane and the ends of her mouth lifted into a forced smile. It was obvious to him then that Jack had some kind of hold on her. Shane was really paying attention to her now, studying her sullen expression and recalling the shared body language between her and Jack. At that moment, he knew he would need to use a different approach with Kate.

Trying to look apologetic, he leaned in towards her and quietly said, "Listen, it looks like I interrupted something … ummmm … personal, between the two of you. Why don't I come back another time? That way you and Jack can straighten things out."

With a heavy and reluctant sigh, she shook her head, "No. I can catch up with Jack later. Let's go."

When he suggested that they walk southward, Kate willingly went along with him. With little difficulty Kate was able to draw him into talking about himself and the camp. She listened silently for most of the way and to her surprise he was very polite and didn't exhibit any of his earlier ribald humor. She noticed that while they walked, he was stopped often and asked questions, giving her the impression that he was a figure of some level of authority here. During those conversations, she would wait patiently and every so often she was introduced to some of the passing soldiers. Two hours into the walk, she was ready to go back to the campsite, he offered to escort her back but she declined. Still, she could now see quite clearly that he was more than a little interested in her. But she preferred to not think much of it.

Kate headed straight to Jack's tent and was about to approach the entrance when she heard herself being addressed. "Sorry Freckles, the Doc ain't in the house." She turned around to see Sawyer sitting, with legs stretched out in one of those collapsible camping chairs, a weathered soft-covered book resting on his lap.

"Do you know where he went?" She swallowed almost painfully.

A lazy grin on his lips, he responded, "Nope, he didn't say. If you ask me, the Doc didn't look so happy. Did you say something to piss him off Freckles?" He was going to prod her further but thought better of it when he saw the dreary look pass over her face before she walked away.

* * *

DAY 39

It was early when she tied her sneakers and adjusted the waist band on her running tights. She pulled her hair back into a sloppy 'updo' and started on her morning walk, which also turned into an afternoon ritual and an early evening one as well. During the evenings, Claire or Daryl usually helped break up the monotony of her strolls by accompanying her. Daryl was a quiet guy, but thoughtful. She sensed that he buried a painful past, but never pushed him to talk about it. He had brooding good looks similar to Sawyer and Kate couldn't help but smile at the thought the two of them found one another amongst the chaos.

She'd spotted Jack a handful of times over the course of the week. He was always at the medical station and if he came back to their campsite, it was to sleep and he was usually gone before everyone woke up. Occasionally, she saw him while on one of her walks. He would look busy though, usually talking to soldiers or some of the medical staff. His expression invariably serious, as if he was always assessing a situation or trying to fix something.

This morning though she managed to catch his attention. He was standing outside the medical center, at first his eyes avoided hers but then he allowed them to settle on her. Kate's heart stretched inside her chest at the sight of his small smile. In a subtle gesture, he raised his hand and looked like he was going to approach her. But his gaze turned to the space above her right shoulder and even from the distance she could see his jaw clench slightly.

Kate felt _him_ slide up next to her and she didn't need to turn to know who it was.

"Kate?"

"What?" Her voice was rough with irritation. Shane followed her gaze and caught Jack's look of disapproval, before watching him head in the opposite direction towards the infirmary.

"What do you want Shane?" She asked while still focused on Jack.

He had spent enough time with her over the past week to discern that she wasn't too jazzed to see him at the moment, but the expression on Jack's face was worth it though. He couldn't believe how little Jack has changed and how easy his feathers could still be ruffled. He also was careful to not let her see him examine her tight little behind that was covered in spandex.

"I have something I need to give you. Do you have some time?"

She shook her head in slight frustration and took a step forward. "Can it wait? I need to go and talk to-"

"If you need to talk to Jack, it's gonna be a while. I know he has a surgery scheduled in a little while."

"How do you know that?"

"Because I stopped by to talk to him, but he was busy with a patient and the nurse told me he was blocked out for the rest of the day."

"Fine. What is it that you need to show me?"

"It's a surprise." He grinned. She threw him a weary look, but followed him nonetheless.

There was pause in Kate's step as she saw him leading them to his trailer. She wondered if this was his guise to finally ask her for sex. She sucked in a deep breath, preparing the words to shoot him down. Reading the hesitation in her body language, Shane promptly asked her, "Do you mind waiting out here? I'll be back in a second." She let out a small exhale of relief, "Yeah, no problem."

As Shane went inside, he grumbled to himself. At this point, he'd hoped that she would at least accept an invitation inside his place, but for whatever reason, she seemed skittish. He was going to have to play this one extra slow, the problem was that Jack was also in the picture, so he didn't have too much time to work with. He was keeping tabs on Jack and he knew the guy was up to his elbows in work at the infirmary. When it came to women, Jack was always his own worst enemy, and that was something Shane had capitalized on a few occasions.

Shane came out carrying a few sacks. Kate's eyebrow shot up in curiosity. "Okay, what are in the bags?"

Looking a little too proud of himself, he answered, "Tell Juliet I found her some of the stuff that she asked for. I added in extra for you and Claire. It's just shampoo, soap and other stuff. But it's better than what is in the communal showers, so I thought I'd give it to you."

"Oh, that's thoughtful of you. Thanks." She moved to take the bags from him, but he moved them out of her reach. "Nope. I want to carry them back for you."

"Shane, it's okay. They don't look heavy, I can manage it on my own Seriously, I've got it."

"Uh-huh. That's the deal. You let me escort you back." She didn't appreciate the conditional aspect of this 'gift', there was something off about it. She was close to telling him to just keep it, but she thought of Juliet and Claire and decided to suck it up.

"How long have you been married?" He asked. She kept her attention straight ahead as she walked and then answered, "A little over a year, if you include the past five weeks or so."

"I guess this whole outbreak got in the way of you celebrating your one year anniversary, huh?"

"You can say that I suppose." He noticed how she didn't seem fazed or wistful about missing her husband or their anniversary, which he took as a good sign. He decided to venture further.

"Or perhaps you never intended to celebrate your one year anniversary?" She stiffened at the eerie truth of that comment.

"_Or perhaps _Shane, my marriage is none of your business." Sensing her reaction, he knew he had hit a nerve.

Pretending to be taken aback by her defensiveness, he added "Ouch, I'll drop the subject." They walked in silence towards her campsite.

* * *

DAY 42

The sun poured down on her head, and although the heat was almost intolerable, she maintained her long, quick and deliberate stride. It's been long enough she thought, they had spoken barely more than a few sentences to one another in nearly two weeks. She was determined to put an end to it now.

She approached the nurse at the intake desk, a pretty brunette woman that appeared to be about Kate's age.

Kate offered an awkward smile, "Hi. I need to see Dr. Shephard."

"I'm _sure_ you do." The nurse snorted in an Australian accent.

"Excuse me?" Kate didn't understand the source of the nurse's tone of sarcasm and condescension.

The nurse rolled her eyes at her, "I get it, all the female patients _need _to see Dr. Shephard. Let me guess. A scratchy throat? An ear ache?" Kate's eyes shot up in reaction to the biting tone in her voice.

"There's nothing wrong with me, I'm his friend. I just need to-"

The nurse interrupted her, "Why don't you take a seat next to all of his 'sick' patients. Don't worry, they're not contagious."

Kate looked over her shoulder and saw three young women sitting on a long bench. All of them appearing rather healthy. She walked over and took a seat. A frown crossed her face, soon followed by a suffocating feeling that grew inside her, a giant bubble of anger stirred together with … jealousy. She jutted her chin and crossed her arms. _So this is what he has been so busy attending to? _ All this time, she pictured him slaving away selflessly aiding people who were suffering. What a joke, he was busy checking the blood pressure of his … groupies.

After waiting for ten minutes, she watched him emerge through the doorway walking behind a patient. She heard him offer some instructions before striding towards the nurse's desk. He lifted his head and their eyes latched onto one another. She jumped up and began to approach him.

"Jack I need to talk to you-"

The nurse interrupted her, "I"m sorry Dr. Shephard, this woman says she's your _friend. _I told her to wait her turn-"

Kate couldn't help but notice how the woman's tone softened and was almost flirtatious as she spoke to him.

Jack smiled warmly back at the woman, "That's okay. I'll see her now."

He then turned to Kate and gestured with his head to follow him.

It was a small office, and he pointed towards a chair for her to sit down on. He waited for her to take the seat before joining her. He rested his arms across his chest and looked at her expectantly. The air in the room felt like it would make her lungs constrict.

"How can I help you Kate?" His voice came across as polite but disinterested. His aloof affect hit her gut hard and she found herself struggling from the force of it.

"I, ummmm, I wanted to talk to you."

"Okay."

"I want to finish what I was going to tell you in the cabin. I want you to know what I was going to do -"

His jaw clenched, feeling irritated that she was calling all the shots here and that he was forced to wait around for her at her convenience.

"Now is not a good time Kate." He told her, his voice flat, devoid of any emotion.

She almost choked on his words, but the feeling of hurt was soon overcome with bitter anger.

"Oh, yes. Evidently, you're too busy taking care of all those 'sick' patients. Those women don't look unhealthy to me." She spat out. If Jack didn't know better, she almost looked jealous.

"_Evidently_."

His derisive tone irritated her and Kate then noticed how he watched her without a gesture and without moving his face. She stood up then and left before giving him an opportunity to say or do anything.

Whatever pleasure he thought he could derive by blowing her off never came to be. He wanted to punish her for spending so much time with Shane and instead he felt badly. He was on the verge of getting up and following her. But he resisted the temptation.

* * *

DAY 44

Jack rubbed his tired eyes before standing up and readying himself for the next patient. Just as he was about to go to the patient in-take area, Shane appeared in the doorway.

"Hey man."

Shaking his head, Jack looked at him, his body stiffening slightly, "Hey. Can I help you with something?"

"Relax, the nurse said you were in between patients, so I thought I'd take a shot and see how you're doin'." Jack's eyebrow raised in suspicion, he knew Shane, so there was definitely an ulterior motive for his visit.

Shane noticed Jack's annoyance and derived a certain pleasure in being the source of it, "Well, now I know why you've been spending all these hours here." Jack had walked over to one of the cabinets and started rearranging its contents, hoping that Shane would take the hint to leave.

Quizzically, Jack looked over his shoulder, "What are you talking about?"

Grinning, Shane told him, "_Cindy? _The hot nurse, not sure how I managed to miss that one. And that accent makes me crazy. All along I thought you were being all selfless-"

_This guy, Jack thought, never lets up. _He let out a huff of incredulity and impatience, "What do you want Shane? Because, you're holding up my schedule-"

"Shep, take it easy. I just wanted to chat. That's all."

Jack cocked his head to the right and rested his hands on his hips, "Now isn't convenient, we can catch up later." Jack was about to leave the exam room when Shane uttered under his breath, "Fine by me, it just gives me more alone time with _her."_

Mid-step Jack stopped and turned to face him, a flash of anger apparent in his eyes, "What did you say, man?"

"You heard me. I'm not gonna lie and pretend that I ain't interested in Kate. That may be your approach, but that don't work for me. So, while you're busy diagnosing rashes and stomach bugs, I'm gonna make sure I'm there to satisfy her needs. And trust me she's got plenty of needs to attend to. Her ex-fiance … _Jason_ and husband were never able to. Hell, she wasn't even gonna stick around for her one year annivers-"

Jack's nostrils flared despite his attempt to keep his emotions in check. He knew Shane always enjoyed fucking with his head and getting a rise out of him. But the fact still remained that Shane knew these details about Kate and it made him angry and … jealous. Over the past two weeks he had seen them together often, both smiling and each time it made him want to shove Shane's head through a wall. And he almost began to resent Kate for so easily falling for Shane's bullshit.

Jack gave him a smirk then, "You don't _know_ Kate."

"But I will know Kate soon - _all_ of her. Just thought that since we're old friends, I'd show you the respect of letting you know my intentions, seeing as you've managed to wrap yourself in your work - as usual. I guess it's lucky for me that you are so OCD."

Jack shook his head at him before giving a tight facetious smile, "I'm glad I have you for a friend and appreciate the heads up. But I wouldn't be so confident if I were you." Jack warned and then brushed past him, his shoulder deliberately bumping hard into Shane as he left the room.

He strode up to Cindy and told her that he was done for the rest of the day. She looked up at him curiously, the doctor looked different. His body language was intense and angry. She tried to tell him that there was one person he needed to see, but he had already stalked off.

Much to his frustration, Jack was fully aware that there was some truth to Shane's words. He did have a tendency to laser focus on his work, and that inevitably resulted in pulling his attention away from other just as important stuff. He wasn't going to waste another second. _Kate was more important._

* * *

Kate wriggled her fingers in between her blankets and the surface of her cot and yanked out the thick envelope. She sat on the bed and opened it. She took out the passport and driver's license, but left the stacks of cash inside the envelope. She stared at the documents and wondered why she still held onto them. They were probably useless now.

"Kate?" She lifted her head up and saw Claire at the entrance.

"Hey Claire. What's up?"

Biting her bottom lip and wearing a hopeful look, she asked, "Can you do me a favor?"

Kate set the documents down at her side and responded, "Of course, what do you need me to do?"

"It's my shift to use the shower and Aaron was fussy and made me lose my turn yesterday, so I was hoping that you could watch him-"

Kate stood up, "Done deal. Why don't you hand him over to me." Kate followed Claire and sat outside Claire's tent while holding Aaron. She studied his little face, and was in awe of how much he had filled out in the past two weeks. His cheeks definitely chubbier.

"You're a cute one, huh?" She said as she tapped the tip of his little upturned nose.

"Are you talking to me or Aaron?" Kate glanced upwards and saw him watching her, the corners of his mouth attempting to form a comfortable smile. She turned her head back to look at the baby, her eyebrows furrowed into a knot of frustration. A couple of days ago, he was so cold and dismissive and now he was joking with her. He sensed her apprehension, "Hey-"

Narrowing her eyes, Kate huffed "Jack, I'm not in the mood for your Jekyll and Hyde routine. So if you want to to play games, you need to find another partner." Jack hunched down then, resting on his haunches and forearms on his knees.

His voice came closer as he kneeled in towards her and rubbed the crown of Aaron's head, "You're right. I'm sorry about the other day. I had no right to snap and take my frustration out on you-"

Kate tried to keep her jaw tight and stubborn, but the warm expression in his stare was already breaking down the barrier. She gazed into his eyes. She really missed them looking at her. _She missed him._

She nodded curtly, "That's correct, you didn't have a right to…", her voice disappearing behind a small escaped smile.

There a was a long pause as they just looked at one another.

"So, are you babysitting?" His question broke her train of thought and he shook her head in confusion.

"Huh? Oh yeah, Claire's taking a shower and I'm just keeping an eye on him until she gets back."

At that moment Aaron started to shift restlessly and let out a tiny cry. Kate tried to lull him, but he wasn't responsive.

"Maybe his diaper is wet?" Jack offered.

"Yeah, maybe. I'll check." Kate laid the baby flat on his back. Just as she opened the diaper, a stream of warm liquid shot onto the front of her shirt. She let out a small surprised scream and quickly covered the baby's bottom half. Kate could hear Jack laughing behind her.

Kate turned to sneer at him, "You think this is funny?"

His eyes were crinkled at the corners and he wore a wide smile "Yeah, I do. You gotta watch the boys when changing a diaper, we have good aim." He released that warm, rich chuckle that she missed so much.

She frowned momentarily before nodding in agreement and letting a small smile escape her lips. That is when she caught a whiff of a distinct smell coming from Aaron's diaper.

She covered her nose with the top of her hand to block the odor. Her horrified expression drew a heartier laugh from Jack.

"Wow that's a stinker." She chuckled. "Jack, can you do me a favor and grab a clean shirt from my tent while I take care of this little guy?"

"Sure, no problem."

She was almost finished changing Aaron when a feeling of panic flooded her. She jumped up and grabbed Aaron as she ran to her tent. She stepped in but it was too late. She found him sitting on her bed, carefully studying the passport and driver's license.

He looked up at her, confusion mixed with hurt on his face. He read the frantic looking expression in her eyes as he asked her, "Why does your passport say your name is Monica Callis?"

"Jack I can explain." He didn't bother to wait for an explanation. He maneuvered around her and left her standing there.

"Jack!"

* * *

Within a few minutes, Claire returned and Kate rushed to clean off the remains of Aaron. With shaking fingers, she hastily buttoned the front of shirt. As she walked towards Jack's tent, she noticed that in her haste, she missed some buttons and the front of her shirt was fastened unevenly, but she couldn't care less.

She didn't bother to ask for an invitation. Kate undid the knots that held the flaps closed, then pulled them back and stepped in. He was sitting in a chair, elbows resting on his knees and his face cast downward held by his large open palms. Her presence made him look up. A moment of pause hung in the air, neither one of them sure who should speak up first.

Kate could see that the minutes that had passed since he left her tent did little to diffuse the anger that was still brewing in his expression. She shifted uncomfortably, almost as if ashamed.

Finally breaking the silence, he roughly asked, "Who are you, Kate?" And then deliberately dropping his voice, "Or should I call you 'Monica'?" He glared at Kate, who stood there like a blazing question mark in his mind.

His eyes burned, but his voice was cool. And for whatever reason his posture and attitude suddenly made her react in kind. Her mind now running on a fuel of bitterness. What sort of claim did he think he had on her such that she now owed him an explanation or apology? Why is it that men have always felt free to exercise control and power over her? If Jack wanted a confrontation, she was ready to give it to him and fire back.

"I'm Ka-te, Jack." She slowly enunciated the words with a sharp emphasis on her name. "And, to be honest, I don't appreciate you looking at me as if I'm some type of criminal. You don't know me and yet I can see that you're judging me-"

Her use of the word "honest" triggered a riled up response in him and he jumped out of his chair. With two long and determined steps they were standing inches apart, he then scoffed, "You're right Kate, I don't know you. But that's not for lack of me trying. I've spent countless hours with you, wanting you to share something real with me."

"Just tell me what's going on, Kate." His eyes softened slightly, but his voice was hard and strained under the weight to stay calm.

"You had your chance to know." She said with a stubborn set to her chin. But the soulful look in his eyes was tugging at her.

Her shoulders slumped and her face felt flushed. In a voice that was toneless, stumbling over words at first, she began to speak.

"I...I was going to leave him." Jack blinked and looked at her questioningly, not understanding what a divorce had to do with the apparent fake documents.

Seeing that he wasn't following her logic, she elaborated, "I knew I made a mistake a month into our marriage. I had told him I wanted an annulment or a divorce, but he wouldn't allow it-"

"What do you mean, he wouldn't _allow it_ -?" Jack wrinkled his brow and shook his head.

She held her hand up gesturing to him to let her to finish, "Brian had already been divorced once and he said that his political career would be destroyed if he were to divorce again. Needless to say, I wasn't swayed by his argument and told him that it was over. He threatened to destroy my family and that my future would be ruined. He promised that he'd make it so I'd never find a job and no man would ever risk getting close to me. I thought his threats were empty, until I received a panicked phone call from my stepfather. He said that his company was under a threat of a hostile takeover, shares of company stock were being purchased rapidly."

Kate paused a moment, catching her breath, but still trying to maintain the courage to keep going, "The day after that, my brother-in-law and his business were under investigation by state regulators. Then, my sister was carjacked and Owen was with her. It was terrifying, Nicole, my sister, had a gun at her head and the thief had threatened to kill the baby. I suspected that he was behind the string of unlucky events happening to my family. And once I told Brian that I had changed my mind and would stay with him, things settled with Wayne's company, the regulators dropped the investigation and everything miraculously went back to normal."

Kate's throat was so dry that she felt she could not utter another syllable, but she forced herself to finish, "So you see Jack, I was trapped. I belonged to him. But I came up with an idea... if he wouldn't let me go, I would disappear. I confided my plan with my sister and she decided to help me. She set up a Swiss bank account for me and funded it. I was able to get into contact with an individual that specializes in fixing or helping people to disappear. It cost a small fortune, but he gave me a whole new identity. I was all set to go through with my idea, but then there was the outbreak."

She closed her eyes before looking up at him again, "Jack, I was literally going to fly the next day to a yoga retreat in Massachusetts, abandon the rental car on the side of the road and head up to Canada and then Europe. I was going to try to make it look like an abduction. So that's why I have a pouch of diamonds, a gun and wads of cash in different currencies stashed away in my tent."

By this point, tears had welled up in her eyes, "So Jack. That's it. Are you satisfied now? Is that _real_ enough for you?!"

His eyes scanned hers. Her disclosure not at all what he expected and he briefly wondered how bad it must have been for her to resort to such drastic measures. She was willing to abandon her family and friends to escape her husband. The fragility in her face made his heart sink. Whatever conception he had of her as the worldly sophisticate dissipated.

Kate noticed his eyes soften and she thought she detected pity in them and that made her defensive. He knew her well enough now to know that she was getting angry and ready to run. She moved towards the opening of the tent, but before she even had a chance to take a whole step, she was looking directly at the center of his chest.

Her mouth hung open as if dumbfounded, and she quickly spat, "Are you kidding? Move out of my way Jack."

He didn't budge and she couldn't believe that he was going to prevent her from leaving. Kate then tried to push him away, but instead he easily caught her arm and yanked her closer to him. His warm breath hit her face and she gave a little gasp. The grip of his fingers was almost painful and she winced slightly. Jack stared down at her and all he wanted was for her to look at him, to _really_ look at him. As if reading his thoughts, she instead stubbornly cast her face downward.

"Let go of me." She warned. But even her threat sounded hollow on lips. He brought his face closer to hers and Kate closed her eyes instinctually against his own which looked as if they were almost black now. And when he gave no indication that he was going to lessen his grip on her, Kate tipped her face to give him a look that tried to resemble an angry dare. Jack wasn't about to let this just drop, she was here, with him and that was all that mattered.

"I'm not letting you just walk off like this Kate."

Her closeness now allowing Jack to see that too many buttons on Kate's shirt were undone so that the soft curve and hollow of her breasts were clearly visible. The heat of her anger actually stoked him on as he slowly studied her feature by feature. Overcome by her scent and her appearance finally too much for him to resist, he let out a low groan. Without thinking, Jack tangled his hand in her curls and pulled her head towards him. His free arm quickly encircling her waist, cradling her resisting body against the length of his frame. Jack kissed her trembling half-open lips and drove his tongue in, determined to let her know that he wanted her. She moaned into his mouth, but she couldn't tell whether it sounded like she was begging him to stop or keep going.

Kate squirmed and struggled against him, pushing her small hands ineffectually against his chest. But her token attempts of resistance were no match against Jack's superior strength. Kate's body soon betrayed her and she grew slack before leaning into him. Her lips still trembled when they finally opened wide allowing him full rein just before she began kissing back hungrily. His hand slipped down her neck and shoulders while the other reached up under the back of her shirt to stroke her smooth skin. Kate's palms reached up to cup his face and draw his kiss deeper. Her mouth plundered his and her legs were trembling against the firm muscles of his thighs. She reluctantly drew away for a second in desperate need of air and her hazy eyes then snapped back to briefly focus on his swollen mouth before, cravingly, latching back onto his lips. With her desire unleashed she nipped and tugged at his bottom lip, rubbed her fingers at the nape of his neck and then allowed her hands to travel to his shoulders and back.

She was heady and her mind spinning as she could feel his hand cup her taut behind and roughly pull her against him. Reveling in the feel and smell of him, her hand awkward and eager squeezed down in between their pressing bodies. She rubbed the top of his inner thigh and her shaky fingers just grazed the hardness below the belt. He twitched slightly at the unexpected contact, but did not let up on his kiss. Jack's flinch must have snapped something inside her because she suddenly became aware of her boldness and… it embarrassed her. Kate pulled herself away and Jack could see her eyes filling with tears and confusion. His eyebrows lifted in question and his mouth was hanging open to accommodate his shallow breaths. She didn't know what to say... so she ran.

"Kate!"


End file.
